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The New Renaissance - Cottage Industry Technology

By crooky | February 25, 2008

A recent artcile in Wired entitled “Free! Why $0 Is the Future of Business” got me thinking about what high tech consumer goods will look like in the future. First off, I don’t think that $0 is the future of all business. Just ones where the incremental cost per unit is already near $0. Web services are a great example. This article talks at length about all the free Google tools you can use. I know - I use several of them myself. However, when one starts to think about consumer electronics, this model starts to fall apart.

Sure, you can get a “free” cell phone with your cell phone plan but it’s not really free (because your plan subsidizes the phone) and it’s usually the cheapest phone they have. I don’t think people are going to start flocking to free PCs (which, to the best of my knowledge, are not yet available). It’s feasible that you could distribute ad-supported PCs but at what cost? An ad at the bottom of every letter you type? Your next invoice, sponsored by QuickTax? It doesn’t add up.

What I do think is possible is that people will start cobbling together their own products and services from found materials or recycled materials and they’ll stop buying so many new consumer goods. Media content is already being produced using free software tools and no-overhead distribution channels.

Picture this:

- You build a media centre out of found objects and materials, running free software.
- You only consume content created by other users, not professionals.
- You make a wind turbine for your home and that’s what powers your electronics.
- You steal WiFi from a neighbour.

Extend that kind of thinking to the rest of your life and think about where the line between consumerism and non-consumerism lies. We could see the emergence of a new cottage industry where consumer goods take a back seat to home-manufactured goods - in some sectors.

A great point in the article:

The truth is that zero is one market and any other price is another.

I think a renaissance is coming - one that will divide consumers from non-consumers and business will be left trying to catch up.

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Aaron “Crooky” Cruikshank is the Principal and Founder of Friuch Consulting. He has written professionally about science and technology for ten years.

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