If you read my recent editorial called Get Some Help, you realize that I didn't get any World Series tickets from the sale on the Colorado Rockie's web site. Not to berate the subject, but some friends and I had an interesting debate on how the situation was handled and what could be done differently.

I don't want to belabor the point about the technology; this is more about the overall process.

As I was buying coffee on Monday morning, I could hear the two people behind the counter complaining about the decision to only sell tickets online. They both had to work at the gas station and had no chance to buy tickets. If there had been a phone sale, then they could have at least traded off taking breaks and making a call and trying to buy tickets.

The original plan was to sell tickets at a few physical locations as well as online and run a lottery at the physical stores. Other teams have done this, held lotteries in advance, or even allowed camp-outs for fans. All of these systems have their own failings as they benefit certain people and not others.

To some extent that's the way it goes in life, but as we become a more digital and connected world, I'm wondering how we should handle access to digital information. So, this being a Friday, I wanted to get some opinions. A lot of you are very smart, creative, and have better ideas than I, so I'm wondering:

How can we fairly allow access to digital goods?

This is an open ended question. Goods could be tickets, information, votes, who knows what's possible with the creativity of the human race. It's a catch-all term, so define it as you will and let us know what you think.

More and more "goods" are being moved to a digital world all the time. Often it's an easy way for companies to cut costs and make more sales, thereby improving profits. I think that this can make for an exciting new world and I very much believe in capitalism.

But I also believe in fairness and morality. Too often we let those traits become dominated by the desire for wealth. We need a balance and honestly I don't have any good solutions.

A long time ago in the US, we legislated that phones should be a guarantee to all homes. That might not have been a great decision for some people, but I think it really opened up the world for many others. Who knows how many areas in the US still wouldn't have phone lines if the companies hadn't been required to build them.

I'm not sure I want to ensure broadband exists in every house, but I'm also not sure I want to allow broadcast media to disappear either. Perhaps there's a compromise from someone out there a little more creative than me.

Steve Jones

The Voice of the DBA Podcasts

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