This advantage, however, is also being eroded, albeit glacially.
The Internet is essentially a free marketing and - in the case of
digital goods - distribution channel. It directly reaches 200 million
people all over the world. Even with a minimum investment, the
likelihood of being seen by surprisingly large numbers of consumers is
high.
Various business models are emerging or reasserting themselves - from
ad sponsored content to packaged open source software.
Many creative people - artists, authors, innovators - are repelled by
the commercialization of their intellect and muse. They seek - and find
- alternatives to the behemoths of manufacturing, marketing and
distribution that today control the bulk of intellectual property. Many
of them go freelance. Indie music labels, independent cinema, print on
demand publishing - are omens of things to come.
This inexorably leads to disintermediation - the removal of middlemen
between producer or creator and consumer. The Internet enables niche
marketing and restores the balance between the creative genius and the
commercial exploiters of his product. This is a return to
pre-industrial times when artisans ruled the economic scene.
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