Get Off My Land!!!!
“…Everything restrains man, but nothing stops him. He overcomes limits by jumping over them. The impossible is a perpetually receding frontier….” – Victor Hugo, The Toilers of the Sea, 1866
I really enjoy economics. Really. One thing that fascinates me about economics is that it is every bit as much of a study of people as it is numbers. When markets are left to themselves and people are free to choose what they want, you can casually observe all you never wanted to know about human nature. Here are a few things I have observed in our (mostly) free market.
1. We don’t go backwards easily
2. Neither does our technology
3. Neither does our information
In our never ending quest for more, more, more we actually achieve it. I’m not putting a negative or positive spin on this.. Interpret it how you will..
If you read my last blog, you might remember how the video cited that information is doubling about every two years and that this pace continues to grow exponentially.
One thing information does well is lower the barrier of entry to just about every pursuit, especially business. We witnessed this in the dotcom days where at first only large telephone companies were able to offer internet service. Then books were written,, people talked.. people created webpages and all of the sudden everyone owned an ISP. Shortly thereafter dialup internet access and some forms of broadband were completely commoditized and on top of that competition had pushed the price of service down so low it was hard to make much of a profit. Fast forward a few short years and nearly every coffee shop you go to just gives away wireless internet.
Well, here we are again. This has been called the “Free Information Age”. Fuelled, by the internet, blogs and social communities, content is becoming the new commodity. I think we will see a time very shortly where you wont be able to sell content, at least not for much. The fact is, everyone is a content creator these days. With content, the internet and information growing at such an exponential rate, I think it is safe to say that traditional content selling is dead or at the very least soon will be.
Message to paid newspapers and news networks:
The masses have caught up to you!
How will you adapt?
How will you kick it up a notch?
How will you provide value?
How will you “Overcome your limits”?
Why should we pay?
I submit to you that in the not so distant future, the money will not be made in providing content, but in searching and organizing the content. Personalizing the content. Sharing it. Providing a means to discuss it with others. Making it available via more mediums than it currently is. Finding ways to get the it to us without being intrusive.
My two cents,, OK more like a quarter at this point…
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