FOLLOW THE FREE

Invest in the first copy.

That is the only one that will hurt. The second copy and all thereafter will head toward the free, but the first will become increasingly more expensive and capital intensive. Gordon Moore, of Moore’s Law fame, posed a second law: that the costs of inventing chips (that are halving in cost every 18 months) is doubling every three to four years. The up-front investment for research, design, and process invention for all complex endeavors are commanding a larger share of the budget, while the capital costs of subsequent copies diminishes.