] When I mentioned in last week's column that I would this ] week be writing about a legal way to do a successful ] music downloading business -- a business that would ] threaten the Recording Industry Association of America ] and its hegemony -- dozens of readers wrote to me trying ] to predict what I would write. Some readers came at the ] problem from a purely technical perspective, ignoring the ] fact that the real issues here aren't technical but ] legal. Some readers took a legal approach, but they ] tended to ignore the business model. Some were looking ] solely for the business model. Interestingly, nobody ] even came close to my idea, which makes me either a total ] loon or a diabolical genius. Truth be told, I'm probably ] more of a diabolical loon. ] ] ] The reason I am even writing this column is two-fold. ] The biggest reason is simply because I would like people ] to consider lateral solutions to problems. I am pushing ] the concept of problem solving in a new way. There is no ] particular methodology here, just the underlying concept ] that if things aren't working the way you like, think of ] something different. Too often, people restrict their ] thinking or they somehow expect the world to change just ] for them, which it won't. But taking a lateral approach ] often yields interesting results. And once you've found ] an approach, maybe it can be applied to a different ] problem. What I am abo I, Cringely | The Pulpit |