This is surely the optimistic reading of Paul Starr's cover article on computer simulation games . In its architecture, the information age seemingly heralds equality. Not only is the hardware cheap and getting cheaper. Information, as Romer notes, is the quintessential non-rival good. Once devised, a software package, a database, a learning program can be made available to all, at almost no marginal cost.
Distribution is also nearly free, for pure information has no physicality.
Once you pay a basic membership charge, usage is free. Data manipulation is not metered, like usage of electricity or gas or the telephone. Information networks deliver a kind of horizontal equity. Once a user is conversant with the technology, he or she is the equal of anyone else on line. The cyberworld is an almost-pure free marketplace of ideas.