So an hour with Bill Gates where you sit around chatting is basically worth nothing since he's not being directly paid by Microsoft at the time and his time is non-fungible?
Quick. The 15 seconds it took you to write that comment? Go sell it, and tell us how much you get.
I ready both of your comments and enjoyed them... Would I pay $5/yr for content like this? Sure. However, it seems that only one of you would stay around...
Agree, I liked/enjoyed those comments as well, was even wondering if they were talking about houses for a minute and not comment prices:-) I come here to exchange ideas. I'd be open to the experiment, besides if it doesn't work we can always put it back....
Nice comeback, but address the example. People's time -- worth something only if sold?
Does the phrase opportunity cost ring a bell?
I'd argue that space cycles help you refresh yourself. I usually get off of Hacker News geared up to churn out code and designs. If I coded nonstop all day I would burn out.
The difference is market value. If Bill were to auction off an hour lunch date with him, the winning bid would be its market value. If he spent an hour lurking or commenting on HN, it doesn't mean that hour cost him the same amount.
I don't know about it being worth "something", but I'm pretty sure it's not worth "money" if you can't sell it; the context here is users paying for HN access.
If you're friends with Bill, I'm sure he'll find the time for free.