[ih] protocol structure -> economic structure

[blair.brewin at gmail.com (Blair Brewin)]

Economists use the term the "Network Effect" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_effect


On 2012-03-02, at 9:30 AM, Scott Brim wrote:

> On Fri, Mar 2, 2012 at 07:10, Tony Finch <dot at dotat.at> wrote:
>> There's an idea that the structure of a protocol (or the topology implied
>> by the protocol or that emerges from it) determines the economic structure
>> of the service providers and users of that protocol. Sadly I can't now
>> remember where I got this idea from.
>> 
>> Does anyone here have pointers to literature mentioning or describing this
>> idea? Is anyone acknowledged as its originator? Does it have a snappy name?
>> 
>> Tony.
> 
> I can only think of one case where this has been demonstrated to be
> true, which is "end-to-end" (or "peer-to-peer") versus "client-server"
> (intermediaries required).  In all other cases I can think of, another
> level of abstraction covered over any problems presented by lower
> layer protocols.
> 
> Scott