I'd have to disagree here, in part. At least where I am, there is no free consumer market--rather a controlled monopoly. There is one cable company, which has negotiated with local government to get the exclusive license. (Of course, in the broader sense, I could get one of either of two dish networks, or ATT). Now, I know why this happens, but the freedom would be between the suppliers of programming and the cable companies. Another example of why Adam Smith isn't always relevant anymore.
The same bundling happens with library-market suppliers of periodicals (paper and electronic), and for the reasons you state. But there, at least, there are several dozen aggregators from which the library (or other institution) can select; and the library could still have separate subscriptions to any set of periodicals it wanted.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2008-12-31 10:49 pm (UTC)The same bundling happens with library-market suppliers of periodicals (paper and electronic), and for the reasons you state. But there, at least, there are several dozen aggregators from which the library (or other institution) can select; and the library could still have separate subscriptions to any set of periodicals it wanted.