Good article. You can see elements of the new business
form in the open source software world where small,
often geographically dispersed teams of specialists
work on small projects that plug into larger projects;
they make their money either through a small charge
for the software, or by charging for support services
to large-volume users. I find I am regularly engaged
with suppliers who are located all over the planet and
do business 24/7/365 on an Internet that knows no
borders.
Traditional media businesses look to me to be early
"victims" of this change: printed newspapers,
magazines, and books are increasingly irrelevant; the
retailers who sell them are already in trouble; and
the behemoth publishing companies who produce them are
bound for early extinction.
How long will the publishers of "branded" authors last
when those authors realize that they can earn far
more, with much greater control over their brand, if
they become their own production company?
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