The first is "open source-free
access" versus proprietary technology and the second revolves around
the role of technological progress in re-defining relationships between
stakeholders.
Both issues are related to the inadvertent re-engineering of the
corporation. Modern technology helped streamline firms by removing
layers of paper-shuffling management. It placed great power in the
hands of the end-user, be it an executive, a household, or an
individual.
It reversed the trends of centralization and hierarchical
stratification wrought by the Industrial Revolution. From
microprocessor to micropower - an enormous centrifugal shift is
underway. Power percolates back to the people.
Thus, the relationships between user and supplier, customer and
company, shareholder and manager, medium and consumer - are being
radically reshaped. In an intriguing spin on this theme, Michael Cox
and Richard Alm argue in their book "Myths of Rich and Poor - Why We
are Better off than We Think" that income inequality actually engenders
innovation. The rich and corporate clients pay exorbitant prices for
prototypes and new products, thus cross-subsidising development costs
for the poorer majority.
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