The Value of Writing and Water

The logical end to Michael Rosenblum's ice analogy, is that writing will be, or perhaps already is, so abundant that it is worthless.

Like water, that doesn't mean that we can live without it. It is vital to our lives and to everything we do. But like water, it's just so abundant that it has no value. Does a restaurant ever charge you for water from the tap?

And of course people will still pay for water if it comes in a bottle with a French name on it. But as soon as people realize that the quality of the water coming out of the tap is as good as the bottled variety, they'll stop buying bottled water.

(Later: Here's a link to a post that discusses why content may be losing it's value.
And: Here's a link to Kevin Kelly's eight generatives that make content Better Than Free.)