Information technology and the economics of storing, spreading and generating knowledge

Abstract

This paper examines the future for the growth and transmission of knowledge with a particular focus on the collision between the zero-marginal-cost economics of online publishing and the finite attention spans of those who download content. The paper tries to show that while it is likely that the information revolution will produce much greater equality of access to knowledge, its impacts on the efficiency with which people pick up capabilities or generate new knowledge remain debatable. © 2009 Taylor & Francis.