He's pretty much describing why Microsoft has been a great investment
That's why large information technology companies have profit margins of 20+% and seem immune to business cycles and macro factors. They just keep printing cash even as other sectors ebb and flow. Microsoft, google, facebook, have huge profit margins and have been good investments.
It’s a sunk cost. If your investment doesn’t pan out, you don’t have physical assets like machinery that you can sell off to recoup some of your money.
But you can sell intellectual property.
> [the ipod] combined Apple’s MP3 protocol, miniaturized hard disk design, design skills, and licensing agreements with record labels.
Apple's MP3 Protocol?
I object to the clickbait-ish nature of the title.
Titles should provide a summary, not a teaser.
TL;DR: Bill Gates reviews one of his new favorite books, "Capitalism Without Capital". The book extends economic principles to measure value of intangible goods (such as software and online services), which were previously not correctly incorporated in economic models.
A nice article. I hope the local library has a copy, the article has convinced me to try to read it.
Instead of the headline from the site, I propose editing the HN title to "Book Review: Capitalism Without Capital". It's a neutral statement about the article's contents, and also conforms to the Gates Notes url: Books/Capitalism-Without-Capital.
The Secret Economic Trend the Celebritites Use to Stay Thin! (this link-baity title is beneath HN, c'mon)