Commodities of the New Economy (Page 2 of 6)
1. Commodities of the New Economy
2. Hierarchy of Cyberneeds
3. Shift Happens
4. The New Economy
5. The New Commodities
6. Summary
Hierarchy of Cyberneeds
Maslow's "Hierarchy of Needs" has been at the heart of much of human behavioral science for the past 25 years. Within Maslow's theory, before humans can evolve as people, they require that a certain set of basic needs be satisfied. Once these needs have been met, humans can then consider the temporal and spiritual, working to achieve a self-actualization that extends beyond mere survival and promulgation of the species.A similar set of hierarchy of needs exists within the new Internet-derived and -driven economy. Indeed this hierarchy of cyberneeds has always existed in the information world. The accompanying graphic depicts our assessment of the "Hierarchy of Cyberneeds."
At the base of the hierarchy of needs is something that often is
overlooked: power. Before there can be computing, communication,
and applications, there needs to be electricity. One factor that
has lead to the uneven spread of the Internet across the globe has
been the lack of a reliable power supply in some regions. While
this is an issue that is being solved, it has played a role in
growth of the Internet. When constructing global Internet strategies,
it is important to consider whether the supply of power is available
and reliable. Once a reliable source of power is available, computing can occur. Again, some assumptions about the global spread of the Internet are predicated upon a catholic presence of computers. Before cyber-actualization via the Internet can occur, a base level of computing availability needs to be present. This is not just personal computers but also, and maybe more importantly, servers.
Moving information around between computers and between users and computers implies a level of connectivity. What affects this connectivity is bandwidth - the capacity to move information between points. Normally bandwidth is interpreted to mean "telecommunications." Since there are other non-telephone-centric means of moving information, i.e., RF, wireless laser, etc., we generally define bandwidth as a medium independent means of moving information.
Much of the meaning and value of information becomes unleashed when it can be processed in a timely fashion. Divining meaning from information implies that the information be timely, complete, and in context. To extract that meaning, computing is applied to the information. Once that computing becomes available ubiquitously, and sufficient bandwidth becomes available, entire processes and datasets can be seamlessly and transparently shifted between computers. When this happens, computing power itself becomes a commodity, both from the sense that it is widely available and it is becoming very low cost.
Part 3 - Shift Happens