Re: bundling (again)

[Mitch Stone <mstone@vc.net>]

--- From a message sent by Doug Masson on 12/3/99 10:01 PM ---

>So have we figured out what constitutes bundling? When does a single
>product become a combination of products? And, if someone figures a way to
>split a product, does the former product become bundled products? Or is it
>like the philosophical notion of an atom, incapable of being split without
>becoming something else?
>
>If we've already figured that part out, then I guess we can begin our work
>ridding the world of the agonizing question of what constitutes
>"fairness".

That's the problem with this entire thread -- the definition of bundling 
changes radically depending on who is arguing the point. For example, 
I've contended (as have others) that when an auto company includes a 
stereo and tires with every car (without offering their customers an 
alternative), they are engaging in bundling. Lewis Mettler doesn't think 
so, but consistently fails to address the distinction between auto makers 
bundling tires and radios and OS publishers bundling networking services. 
So we're stuck in this rhetorical quagmire.

Mitch Stone
mstone@vc.net