Software Abundance in the Face of Economic Scarcity, Part 1

The paper discusses the abundance of software products in the face of the economic scarcity. The author states that in the face of economic scarcity, the traditional response is to retreat, shrink, slash, and try not to panic. But there´s another, more creative reaction to economic scarcity: to attack. While the velocity of money may have greatly decelerated and while credit might still be a scarce resource, human imagination is not similarly constrained. Software is the most fungible and liquid of resources. The supply of software is limited only by human imagination and labor. Software has no mass, it´s remarkably malleable and wonderfully versatile, and it never wears out. This is why it also argue that software intensive systems are an inescapable and necessary element in helping software people operate, innovate, and even thrive.Undeniably, software-intensive systems, even in these lean economic times, are the force behind a sea change in communication and connectivity and a force that continues to propel innovation. Innovation in times of abundance is relatively easy; even just staying alive in lean times is a struggle. The thing about abundance is that, well, abundance feels a whole lot better than scarcity.