>> Err no, the intent of *any* business is to make money.
>
> Sure. But *respectable* business do this by legal means.

I think you'd be hard pressed to find a large company that has not done 
something illegal at some point.  Sure, if a company secretly uses child 
labour or uses some toxic chemical to save money then they lose my respect, 
but if they decide, completely openly, that having a fine instead of sharing 
code with competitors is going to be more profitable, that just seems like a 
business decision to me.

>> Making a superior product is just one way to do that, there are lots of 
>> opportunities to make money without having the superior product.
>
> Such as...?

Making an inferior product that you can sell for a lower price.
Building up a brand image so that you can charge more for the same quality 
products.
Placing your selling points in better locations than your competitors.
Advertising more than your competitors.
Buying your competitors.
Providing better customer support than your competitors.

> No, but if you make a cheap car that's inferior to all the other cheap 
> cars, you're not going to make much money I suspect...

So long as you can sell it a bit cheaper than the others you would be 
surprised...

Post a reply to this message