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I am always amazed how much it feels like we are in a world of guilds who are concerned their "secrets" will escape.


Anyone who relies on restricting information to stay in business is in trouble these days.

I'm pretty sure (and there's a quote in the article about this) that thieves pretty much ignore locks and just smash and grab. Locks keep honest people honest.


  "Anyone who relies on restricting information to stay in business is in trouble these days."
That would be the "SEO" industry (not the entire industry.. just 90%).


Add (management, strategy) consultants to that.


The only thing they need to keep hidden is their own ignorance.


And illusionists.


Actually, a lot of them(Derren Brown, Penn & Teller, James Randi) do reveal a lot of their tricks.


And other illusionists.


Yes and no. Perhaps more accurately you should say 'Anyone who relies on restricting information indefinately to stay in business is in trouble these days.'

There are many cases where restricting information for a limited duration is an entirely viable business proposition. A classic example is Pay TV. In Europe, Pay TV operators make an absolute truckload of money each time the Football World Cup rolls around. Why? Just before the tournament starts, they all update the algorithms protecting their broadcasts. In general, these algorithms are pretty thoroughly hacked, and you can relatively easily get your hands on a pirated STB to get your feed. But it takes a while to figure these hacks out (anywhere between 1 month and several years, depending on how clever the scheme is). The thing is, it's no good figuring out how to crack the system in 3 months time, the pirate's customer wants to watch the football live! So, he has no choice but to cough up the money for the official STB/Pay TV subscription.


thieves pretty much ignore locks and just smash and grab.

Thieves, but not spies.


I'm thinking spies already know how to pick a lock. Unless it's Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd, but even they seem to get the job done in the end.


Anyone with an access to this book and some practice can crack even the most secure locks and safes: http://security.org/dial-0/lss.htm


There are at least two great examples in "Freakonomics": the price of life insurances, and selling your own house (think real state agents.)


Yes. So the above quote is a bit misleading. Better cite Kerckhoff's principle.


Take a look at the mattress industry if you ever get a chance.


yep, it's horrible.

Manufacturers purposefully change the model number between retailers so it's impossible to do any sort of comparison shopping.




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