Post #189,335
1/7/05 5:22:44 PM
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Sure I could
Do you know how to make a hamburger?
Do you think it would be bettern than a McDonald's Quarter Pounder?
Would it cost you $3 to make it?
Why do you buy it anyway? Okay, you don't have your kitchen with you at lunchtime. Have you seen people drive through at dinner time? Think maybe they're planning on bringing it home?
Or how about I point you to the articles online that describe how to build your own digital video recorder. More capacity, more features and less cost than a TIVO. Why does TIVO still sell so well? Sure, the subscription service. But other than that?
But wait, you could take that same information and build your own DVR. You could start your own business. Hell the information is out there in the public, you can build it cheaper than TIVO and eat their lunch!
Oh wait, you couldn't. Because you'd still have to build a factory, hire the workers, do your own marketing, crate a supply and distribution chain ...
Hmm, it seems like this might still be hard.
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Purveyor of Doc Hope's [link|http://DocHope.com|fresh-baked dog biscuits and pet treats]. [link|http://DocHope.com|http://DocHope.com]
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Post #189,340
1/7/05 6:16:05 PM
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You both make some points, but...
I know how to make a hamburger. I know how to fry chicken. My burgers don't taste like McDonald's and my chicken doesn't taste like KFC.
Now suppose I find out the secret recipe. Now my food tastes just like the chains. Minor loss to them. What if I sell it to their competitors? Now it costs them a lot in loss of business. IP does have value.
What happens to our favorite whipping company if its APIs were all suddenly published?
IANAL, and therefore won't attempt to decide where and when liability comes into play.
/my thoughts
A good friend will come and bail you out of jail ... but, a true friend will be sitting next to you saying, "Damn...that was fun!"
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Post #189,379
1/8/05 12:55:57 AM
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McDonalds isn't in the hamburger business
My brother-in-law teaches high school business classes.[1] They had a McD's exec in one day to give a lecture. He started out by asking the students what business they thought he was in. They guessed the obvious: hamburgers, fast food, food service, restaurant, etc. He kept telling them, "No."
Finally he told them, "I'm in the real estate business. Anyone can make a hamburger. What we do is figure out the best places to put our franchises."
That's why Burger King tried advertising that they had won in taste tests -- which they had -- and it didn't matter. People don't choose McD's over BK for the taste. They choose it because it's right there on the corner.
[1] Don't think future business leaders of America, think jocks and burnouts taking an elective that doesn't have any standardized tests.
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Purveyor of Doc Hope's [link|http://DocHope.com|fresh-baked dog biscuits and pet treats]. [link|http://DocHope.com|http://DocHope.com]
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Post #189,392
1/8/05 9:32:22 AM
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Similarly...
What's the most important thing for a business to have?
1) Killer product? 2) Great prices? 3) Memorable advertizing and marketing? 4) Political clout? 5) Location, location, location? ... n-1) Happy, motivated employees? n) [link|http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=customer|Customers]?
The answer is, of course, n.
Cheers, Scott.
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Post #189,393
1/8/05 10:10:55 AM
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s/customers/franchisees is another method
that way too many Iraqis conceived of free society as little more than a mosh pit with grenades. ANDISHEH NOURAEE clearwater highschool marching band [link|http://www.chstornadoband.org/|http://www.chstornadoband.org/]
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Post #189,342
1/7/05 6:54:24 PM
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OK - put up the recipes
on your website. Ingredient lists and step by step prep guides. Or email them to me and I'll get them published.
You say there is no IP - so put your money where your mouth is.
Comfortable doing that? Yes? Then we just disagree and I might have a new regional weekend business soon.
No? Then you don't really believe what you are saying.
I look forward to learning how to make nifty doggie treats and picking up a few bucks on the weekend. After all, we have many of the little fellas here at work. I could be bigtime popular with my co-workers and maybe make a few bucks.
"The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them." --Albert Einstein
"This is still a dangerous world. It's a world of madmen and uncertainty and potential mental losses." --George W. Bush
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Post #189,349
1/7/05 7:34:27 PM
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Andrew is doing just that
that way too many Iraqis conceived of free society as little more than a mosh pit with grenades. ANDISHEH NOURAEE clearwater highschool marching band [link|http://www.chstornadoband.org/|http://www.chstornadoband.org/]
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Post #189,356
1/7/05 8:18:04 PM
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You mean the doggy treat recipes?
or the other food? Got a link?
"The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them." --Albert Einstein
"This is still a dangerous world. It's a world of madmen and uncertainty and potential mental losses." --George W. Bush
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Post #189,357
1/7/05 8:33:46 PM
1/8/05 10:07:52 AM
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whoops, bad link
enjoy, regards, daemon
that way too many Iraqis conceived of free society as little more than a mosh pit with grenades. ANDISHEH NOURAEE clearwater highschool marching band [link|http://www.chstornadoband.org/|http://www.chstornadoband.org/]
Edited by daemon
Jan. 8, 2005, 10:07:52 AM EST
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Post #189,367
1/7/05 9:25:46 PM
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Shees, I forgot those pages were even up there . .
. . they need updating real, real bad.
[link|http://www.aaxnet.com|AAx]
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Post #189,378
1/8/05 12:48:32 AM
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Three things ... no, four ... four things
First, to get it out of the way, no I won't post our recipes and the step-by-step instructions. Although you'll notice that one of our items is a [link|http://dochope.com/assorted/biscuits_to_go.php|make your own dog biscuits] kit, which does have an ingredient list and step-by-step directions on it. No, it doesn't say exactly how much of each ingredient, but it's not hard to figure out.
Oh, and one of the steps is too add either more wheat flour or more chicken broth until it's the right consistency. How much is that? What is the "right" consistency? Don't ask me. My wife makes them. I've followed her recipe and I still can't get it right. It takes experience. Just like she lets me cut the [link|http://dochope.com/favorites/biscotti.php|doggie biscotti]. Cut them too fast and they crumble, too slow and they crush. And they have to be at the right temperature. What temperature is that? I don't know ... but I know what it feels like.
Next, if you want to want exact recipies, try [link|http://www.google.com/search?q=dog%2bbiscuit%2brecipe|dog+biscuit+recipe]. That's where I started about five years ago. The ones we use are probably still out there somewhere. There are probably even better ones. If you find one you like post a link to it and we'll add them to our lineup -- if you want to buy some.
Finally, if I tell my father-in-law our recipe and he sends it somewhere and it gets published I might be upset with him. If I think it costs me business I might even think he owes me something. But there's a funny thing about a trade secret. Once someone outside the company knows it, it's no longer a secret.
This is the crux of the problem with the term "intellectual property". Ideas are not real property. They can not be stolen. The nature of information required that laws be written to help creators profit from their creations. The three types of protections are copyright, trademark and patent. They serve different purposes and have different implications. But they share a common attribute: you can't keep something secret and at the same time claim patent, trademark or copyright on it.
Trade secrets are explicitly not afforded any of these three protections. They are protected by ... secrecy. Thus the term "trade secret". A trade secret may be protected by a license or non-disclosure agreement, but this is contract law. It only applies to parties to the contract.
So, if a trade secret can not be covered by patent, trademark or copyright; and if it is not real property, so can't be "stolen"; and if the group that published the rumors is not a party to any license or non-disclosure-agreement with Apple ... what area of law are they violating?
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Purveyor of Doc Hope's [link|http://DocHope.com|fresh-baked dog biscuits and pet treats]. [link|http://DocHope.com|http://DocHope.com]
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Post #189,386
1/8/05 2:38:59 AM
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+5 Informative. Good summary.
Is it enough to love Is it enough to breathe Somebody rip my heart out And leave me here to bleed
| | Is it enough to die Somebody save my life I'd rather be Anything but Ordinary Please
| -- "Anything but Ordinary" by Avril Lavigne. |
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Post #189,390
1/8/05 2:54:22 AM
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-1, should have done the research first
See my [link|/forums/render/content/show?contentid=189385|other post] where I answer my rhetorical (I thought) question.
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Purveyor of Doc Hope's [link|http://DocHope.com|fresh-baked dog biscuits and pet treats]. [link|http://DocHope.com|http://DocHope.com]
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