Isaac Mao has a thought-provoking post on micropipelines as unblockable infrastructure. This is how many-to-many relationships develop and work.
[image created by Isaac Mao]
The digital revolution has given us more than the opportunity to find any kind of content we want or connect with anyone - a-la one click of separation. One day we may well have artificial intelligence agents as discovery channels. In the semantic Web, pipes could talk to each other.
This indeed opens all kinds of possibilities for individuals to organize themselves. It makes the world not as flat as we'd like to think - given means, tools, geography, etc. - certainly it makes it a lot smaller.
Clay Shirky provided ample examples of such movements in his book, Here Comes Everybody. One such example is that of the music industry that used to provide a service by distributing music and images. This was their business model.
Today users themselves can post videos and share music, in ways that are far easier and more convenient for them. The music industry, however, is not ready to change its model and is fighting those very people that are passionate about spreading the word. Where could it add value?
John Lambie of Bates 141 has a few ideas. In his presentation he moves in the direction of read/write/execute, where the customer customizes. How do marketers get ahead in this environment where the customer customizes, her device is her, he's at the center of the universe, she is her media, and commerce becomes "meCommerce"?
By being open, inviting, listening, asking, responding, sharing, questioning the macro, and observing the micro.