Glorious St. Joseph, model of all who are devoted to labor, obtain for me the grace to work in the spirit of penance in expiation of my many sins; to work conscientiously by placing love of duty above my inclinations; to gratefully and joyously deem it an honor to employ and to develop by labor the gifts I have received from God, to work methodically, peacefully, and in moderation and patience, without ever shrinking from it through weariness or difficulty to work; above all, with purity of intention and unselfishness, having unceasingly before my eyes death and the account I have to render of time lost, talents unused, good not done, and vain complacency in success, so baneful to the work of God. All for Jesus, all for Mary, all to imitate thee, O patriarch St. Joseph! This shall be my motto for life and eternity. - Prayer of Pius X

Monday, October 27, 2008

Electronic Gifting

This is interesting:

Build It. Share It. Profit. Can Open Source Hardware Work?


The computer tech world has long been a testing bed for "gift" type transactions, as evidenced by the open source movement (Linux, Firefox, etc.). Giving away hardware specs and declining the financial opportunity of patents is a significant increase of the ante.

And why do we have patents? To incentivize innovation? If so, why do we need to decouple innovation and necessity (i.e., "Necessity is the mother of invention") by offering liquid profits? Does this imply a market driven by greed, and perhaps also resulting in excess innovation? Are patents not also a handmaiden to market branding, a way of creating apparent exclusivity, thereby driving up demand. It seems to be about the appearance of scarcity.

Posted by Colin at 8:29 AM

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