HN user
The bigger question is whether, given that real wages in the US have stagnated for the last 20-30 years, the outsize compensation given to elites is a function of productivity gains increasingly depending on them or just an increase in relative bargaining power.
I agree completely. I didn't do sports in high school or college aside from some casual fencing, but I've started running in the last few months. I've been surprised at how much of a mental activity it really is.
Rephrase; for most of their targeted audience the marginal cost of mobile to mobile calls inside the US is already $0.
Marginal cost is what matters, and in this case many US calls are already near free for the segment that would be most likely to adopt.
My 5 secs searching says: Plastic Jungle has a $25 req. Card Woo, another competitor, has a $20 min.
I just checked. They require a CC# from anyone they pay online, in case the seller does just that.
Dunno, but this tells me the option isn't gaining users as fast as they need for sustainability. And most people they're targeting already get free US calling through mobile networks. I'd bet this is the loss leader to building a base of people who pay for international calling.
Actual paper is here : http://www.uvm.edu/~cmplxsys/newsevents/pdfs/2010/science.11...
I remember when this first came out. It hit a lot of the things I've noticed myself -- the way you can create a group rhythm that lets people build on each other.
I could see that happening. There's a decent argument to be made that network effects would make a duopoly the efficient outcome for major social networks like FB and Myspace.
As people get better at, and better tools for, segmenting their lives on FB, I don't see why FB couldn't persist.