Pringent is a type of intermediary which tries to maintain equal indebtedness to possibly competing groups of stakeholders. One example might be an online job board, in which both job listings and job applications might be posted. At the close of each accounting cycle of the pringent, which we'll take to be monthly, since one-month insertions of job listings seem to be the norm, the cost of operating the pringent for the previous month is calculated. Divide this amount by two. Take half of this total, and divide by the number of job listings (or the number of bytes used to store job listings, or some other reasonably objective measure of the quantity of "employer usage"). Likewise calculate half of operational costs divided by number of units of "job seeker usage." Set rates to be charged to each stakeholder group accordingly. The idea is that at any given time, exactly half of revenues come from each stakeholder group, so there will be no reason to believe that the website has been set up as, say, a service to employers (i.e. free to job seekers) or vice versa.
-- LoriZ, Aug 16 2001

(?) prosumer http://www.thetrans...x.php?page=prosumer
"Prosumer" is a word that Alvin Toffler coined on his book "the Third Wave" to describe a more fitting relationship that individuals should have to the economy. [LoriZ, May 26 2005]

Hmm?
-- hippo, Aug 16 2001


There's no way of telling.
-- -alx, Aug 16 2001


Sounds like tridigital commerce to all but the aspringer
-- reensure, Aug 17 2001


How much for alter table?
-- Monkfish, Aug 17 2001


It's not just me, is it?
-- angel, Aug 17 2001


At least there seems to be an actual idea somewhere in here, one that doesn't involve putting prostitutes whose driving we don't like on a desert island with nothing to eat but custard to be filmed for a TV show called Fart Survivor.
-- Dog Ed, Aug 17 2001


Uh, guys?... *shudder* ... I think I get it. But I also think I like Dog's idea better.

the question is, why? Are there humans who already function in such capacities, and you wish to automate their jobs and obviate their product? Or are you attempting to change some dynamic associated with (posting|reading)*(jobs|resumes)? It sounds like an automatic rate calculator for services whose rates don't change all that drastically day to day, a simple thing made far too complicated to be useful. Ok, so, the pringents talk to each other; um, there is then aggregate data dictating what the rates for each of these services should be, right? Is that the point?

mmm, maybe I don't get it after all... nevermind.
-- absterge, Aug 18 2001


Needs work in the used car sense?
-- LoriZ, Sep 24 2001


Actually, this is a perfectly good idea under a strange name. In a "seller's market", it's cheap to post goods for sale and search for wanted-to-buy, and expensive to post wanted-to-buy and search for sellers. In a "buyer's market", it's the other way around.

This is particularly good because most existing middleman business models are fixed to take a cut from one side or the other. When the market changes, that model may no longer be appropriate. LoriZ's suggestion would adapt dynamically.

For example, most of the "job boards" out there were created when the labor market was very tight. As such, they're designed to be free for job seekers and expensive for employers. These days, the situation is a little different, but the systems are still set up. The result is lots of inefficiency, e.g. recruiters posting vague job listings and requiring job seekers to contact them directly for more information (and to agree to a contract).

Why is everyone so down on this?
-- egnor, Sep 25 2001


I think people are down on it because they don't understand it. That's not entirely their fault; LoriZ builds on a lot of expected knowledge.

If you're unfamiliar with the term "servent", or have trouble with abstract reasoning in the form of equations ((A:B):C = (D:E):F), or, like me, stumble over the asymmetry between word fragments and roles (("client":"server") : "servent") = (("principal":"agent") : "agipal", not "pringent"!), the first two sentences are very confusing. (And I'm not sure whether the confusion is worth it - the proposed system is not really a combination of agent and principal, it's what I'd call a "market" or "board" where both negotiate according to a changing set of rules.)

If a reader doesn't recognize "insert" and "select" as database operations, the remaining text is very difficult to understand, too; there are a lot of words that look like verbs but are really nouns. (If, in contrast, you _are_ used to reading specifications for database systems, it's very easy to understand - so, there's a trade-off.)
-- jutta, Sep 30 2001


please don't laugh but is it like the ads paper, LOOT?
-- po, Sep 30 2001


There is demand to employ and the demand to be employed. A pringent offers services that help do both, and it adjusts the cost of those services so that revenue generated from searching for employment is equal to revenue generated from searching for employees.

Or, no?
-- daseva, May 26 2005


Exactly.
-- LoriZ, Jan 20 2015


You lost me at "as servent is to client and server". If specialized knowledge is required it should be included with the idea. You don't have to treat me like a small child but I've been in tech for years (just nothing involving DB administration) and I didn't understand this idea.
-- Voice, Jan 20 2015



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