smart cow problem

{{Short description|Concept in technology}}

{{use mdy dates |date=July 2019}}The smart cow problem is the idea that a technically difficult task may only need to be solved once, by one person, for less technically proficient group members to accomplish the task using an easily repeatable method. The term is derived from the expression: "It only takes one smart cow to open the latch of the gate, and then all the other cows follow."{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/2003/10/buck-a-song-or-buccaneer/|title=Buck a Song, or Buccaneer?|last=Kahney|first=Leander|date=2003-10-21|magazine=Wired|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180411175801/https://www.wired.com/2003/10/buck-a-song-or-buccaneer/|archive-date=2018-04-11|url-status=live|access-date=2018-04-27}}

This concept has been applied to digital rights management (DRM), where, due to the rapid spread of information on the Internet, it only takes one individual's defeat of a DRM scheme to render the method obsolete.{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/2005/05/give-your-dvd-player-the-finger/|title=Give Your DVD Player the Finger|last=Dean|first=Katie|date=2005-05-19|magazine=Wired|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180411175800/https://www.wired.com/2005/05/give-your-dvd-player-the-finger/|archive-date=2018-04-11|url-status=live|access-date=2018-04-27}}