How the internet is transforming the economy

The 'Pareto Principle'- the idea that 20 percent of products generate 80 percent of turnover - may not always be rock. In 2004, the editor in chief of Wired, Chris Anderson claimed that nearly everything is offered for sale on the internet is also actually sold- however bizarre or unnecessary the product.
It appears that business is gravitating to where there is variety instead of uniformity.

Anderson use a demand curve to illustrate his claim. On the far left, the curve rises shortly upwards. Here the best sellers in the blockbusters account for 20 percent. Then the curve levels out gently to the right this is where we find the less popular books & films. It's part of the curve is much wider spanning many more products than the peak. Instinctively one would think that 'Pareto Principle' is right, the best sellers (20 percent) are more profitable than the rest Sales (80 percent). But the figures suggest something different. The long Tail as Anderson calls it, achieves a higher turnover than a few best sellers.

The internet is the worlds largest library. Its just that all the books are eon the floor. John Allen Paulos

THE MONTE CARLO SIMULATION MODEL

 The number pi (3.1415927...) is what mathematicians call irrational. It never be written out in full. It continues for an infinite number of decimal places in a seemingly random sequence of digits. Randomness is found in many phenomena that we would like to be able to predict, such as changes in the weather or movements in share prices. Inspired by the casino city Monte Carlo , a computer simulation method is being developed to calculate these apparently incalculable phenomena.

If you roll the dice you know that it will get a 1,2,3,4,5 or 6, but what you don't know is which of these numbers you will get within a given roll. This is exactly how the Monte Carlo simulation works. By running multiple trials based on random sampling to determine an outcome. Using a combination of probability calculation and statistics.

Why is the Monte Carlo model important? Because it reminds us that models do not represent reality. I simply approximation of reality.

If I know exactly what I'm going to do what's good in doing Pablo Picasso. 

THE GAP IN THE MARKET MODEL

Positioning is like drilling for oil close is not good enough.
How to recognise a bankable idea. The goal of every need businesses to discover an unoccupied gap in the market, but what is the best way of proceeding?
The gap in the market model helps by depicting a mock scenario.
Draw 3 axis and measure the development of your customers in future products.
Say that you want to launch, a new magazine. At Each stage, How well known is the product? How loud is your partner? Position your competitor's products on the areas. If you are densely competitor you should enter your business model only has the potential to be a category killer.
For example Grazia was able to conquer the already crowded by woman's weekly. By combining sophisticated fashion news, with its strictly 'A list clients'.
Look for in a an area that is being overlooked and is not yet occupied.
The away if the area is completely empty you should check whether there is a demand for it.

THE POWER OF SOCIAL PARTICIPATION

Micro mavens understand the power contexts and nuances of the social web, they get the fact that social networking is done strategically with enthusiasm and authenticity. You can launch your personal brand and your philosophies and ideas into the cyber-stratosphere.

Writing compiling original content for a blog, podcast or online video show is absolutely critical, but it's only one piece of the social web puzzle.
1. New content
2.  Social participation.

Social participation to me is regularly connecting and interaction with people via the likes of Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin and Google+ along with commenting on other people's blogs, sharing links and liking other people's content, attending meet ups and tweet ups and Social Media events together.
In other words getting involved in and values of the online community in general. Non conformists Chris Guillebeau understands this better than most. He spends half his time creating things and the other half connecting with people, understanding the importance of relationship marketing. Authority Mari Smith is big on getting the balance right too, she says that content is king engagement is Queen and she rules the house.

THE JOHARI WINDOW

WHAT OTHERS KNOW ABOUT YOU
We cannot 'grasp' our own personality, but we can be aware of what part of our personality we reveal to the outside world. The Johari Window (Johari is derived from the first syllables of the names of its inventors Joseph Luft, and Harry Ingham). It's one of the most interesting models for describing human interaction. A full paned window divides personal awareness into four different types.

A. The squadron describes the characteristics and experiences that we are aware about ourselves and that we like to tell others about.

B. This hidden quadrant describes things that we know about ourselves but choose not to reveal to others. It decreases in size small we build up a trusting relationship without others.

C. There are things we do not know about ourselves but that others can see clearly. And there are things that we think we are expressing clearly, which others interpret completely differently. In this quadrant feedback can be enlightening, but also hurtful.

D. There are aspects about ourselves that are hidden from ourselves as well as others. We are more complex and multifaceted than we think. From time to time something rises to the surface from our unconscious. For example, in a dream

Adjectives (fun unreliable etc) that you think describe you well. Then let others (friends, colleagues) choose adjectives to describe you.  The additives are then entered into the appropriate pains of the window.

USING TWITTER

Let's look quickly at Twitter, because this is the form in which micromanagement really come to the fore. Most micro mavens have a solid followings on Twitter indeed some have vast numbers of followers. But they are also incredibly active in terms of sharing interesting links and interacting with others. In terms of all round style and strategic uses of Social Media, Mari Smith is an excellent curator of valuable information, to do social media relationship marketing. Which she feeds on Twitter across half of the networks. She also tweets a good proportion of posts most often interacts heavily with excellence. At the time of writing Smith had tweeted 66,000 times and she had over 170,000 followers. It's not hard to say why.
She covers a number of bases including: sharing other people's content, promoting Smith's forthcoming tele-seminars and interacting with Twitter followers.

Messages fly in the blink of an eye on social sites Twitter in particular. So in our attention based society it's important to limit your communication to a small number of interesting powerful engaging messages that increase your chances. 

USING FACEBOOK

Over on Facebook the action continues for the micro mavens. More often than not the micro mavens will have a strong presence on the world's biggest social networking sites. It's where they can aggregate their fans and followers in the one spot in a simple cohesive way, giving them the opportunity to not only like posts, photos and videos, but also add their '2 cents' worth in the comments section.

Mignon Grammar Girl Fogarty's Facebook pages attracted more than 85000 like since 2009 and is a great example of what can be achieved in terms of nurturing a natural cultivating strong and vibrant community of enthusiasts around a personal brand. What is the purpose. Fogarty posts regularly to Facebook which serves as an excellent cross promotional out-post to her quick and dirty tips for better writing, blog posts and podcast series. Importantly her updates attract many likes and comments. Fogarty also jumps into the comment section every now and then.

HOW TO EXPLAIN THE WORLD TO ALIENS

On 2nd of March 1972,  pioneer 10 was launched into space, the first space probe to leave our solar system. Although ostensibly highly scientific, the plan was at heart child like: it was hoped that the probe would encounter aliens. For this reason ,the astronomer Carl Sagan was commissioned with the creation of the 15x23 centimetre plaque explaining our world.

But how should we explain our world to aliens?

Sagan optimistically presumed that our physical laws also applied to aliens. So he drew the most common element in the universe. The hydrogen atom, based on the assumption that there was a universal unit of length (hydrogen emits radio waves, with a wavelength of 21 centimetres). The web like net in the centre is a pulsar map. A kind of cosmic map that shows a position of our solar system. The human couple is standing and the man is depicted with genitals, the woman without. Both are caucasian: the man has his hand raised in greeting to indicate humans friendly intentions. Originally Sagan wanted you to depict the couple holding hands, but feared the Aliens might then interpret them as a single being. Behind the couple is the outline of Pioneer 10, so that the finders of this message could estimate the size of humans in relation to the probe. At the bottom edge of the plaque is a diagram of our solar system. On the left the sun, next to it the planets and then another sketch of the launch of the probe from Earth.

In the 1980's NASA it experts discovered that an unknown force had diverted the probe in the direction of the sun. In 1997 Pioneer 10, left our solar system at the speed of 12km/s. Since February 2003 there's been no further trace of the probe. 

How would you explain our world to an alien?

USING GOOGLE+

Google's social networking platform Google+ was launched in 2011 and so has given a decent start to Facebook and Twitter launched in 2004 and  2006. However with 400 million users (100 million of them are considered active). Google class has carved out a sizeable niche on the social web. Indeed some micro mavens believe Google+ has a big future and have established a solid presence on the network accordingly.

Chris Brogan is one of those micro mavens. He loves Google+ so much that he ditched Facebook for for it, plus he has written a book on the subject Google+ for business- How Google social network changes everything. In 2012 an article in entrepreneur.com Brogan explained why he was 'nuts' for Google's new social platform. Reasons included Google hangouts, a free video conferencing option ideal for instructional coaching businesses. The platforms search-ability on Google, and the ability to segment or communicate with potential customers via the Google+ circles function.

THE POWER OF RELENTLESS GIVING

We know micro mavens use their rich blog to publish rich and social networking mediums share links to their posts, videos as well as other people's content, they are also big on using Twitter and Facebook to connect and engage with people from around the world.

But it's one thing to want to add value and help others, it's another thing to actually do it on a regular basis. It takes certain mindset to consistently produce valuable content and chat freely with the world especially if you've spent years in youth building knowledge and expertise. It goes against the grain of conventional thinking to give stuff away.

Brian Solis, author and micro maven in his own right describes a practice of solving people's problems are constantly creating and distributing free content as relentless giving. This notion of producing high quality content relevant to your area of expertise and sharing that with your tribal community on a regular basis is not easy, but it is what sorts the wheat from the chaff.

And its not just about content, it takes time and energy to help others to connect to like minded people online and in person to answer questions and provide advice, freely, without the expectation of getting anything in return. To be frank most people couldn't be bothered. There more interested in themselves or orientated towards ensuring some sort of short term income is generated by the energy invested.

Not so the micro maven. They get involved. They help others, they provide content that informs and entertains. It takes time and not inconsiderable effort. There's no guarantee that this practice will lead to anything in terms of revenue. You have to want to do it because it's in your blood. Sharing is the fuel of the passion. Micro mavens are actually big hearted impassioned people who cannot help but get involved in a positive way in other people's lives, sometimes to their detriment because of the time involved, but ultimately it's what sets them apart from the more inward looking entrepreneur. The pay off eventually comes in the form of sales from committed fans and customers, as well companies and organizations, will want to buy from their brand in one form or another.

THE BLOGGING BUSINESS

Blogging is essential for a number of reasons and not just because it showcases a micro mavens knowledge in expertise. A well maintained blog does the following:

1. Helps you get found online, if no one could find you through Google it will pop up in search engines. It makes profile raising much easier.

2. Ensures that you have a steady stream of content to share with your fans and followers on social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and Google plus.

3. Gives readers, listeners or viewers something to share online with their friends and peers, the power of this amplification effect cannot be overestimated.

4. Provides you with a platform from which to promote your products and services, you can even use it to house your e-commerce hub.

5. Helps you gain clarity around your thoughts and ideas. There's nothing more sobering than pushing the publish button on your blog, it will be out there on the worldwide web for all to see.

Had it not been for their own blog, online video series or pod cast show, micro mavens might not thrive like they do today.

THE UFFE ELBAEK MODEL

HOW TO GET TO KNOW YOURSELF

If you want to gain a general understanding of yourself and others Uffe Elbaek public opinion barometer is a good starting point. It reveals behavioral traits and tendencies.

You should bare in mind we are always subject to four different perspectives.
How do you see yourself?
How you would like to see yourself?
How others see you?
How others would like to see you?

Proceed as follows: Without taking time to think about it, decide on the following: On a scale of one to 10, how much of a team player are you and how much of an individualist?
Do you pay more attention to content or form?
What is more important to you, the body or the mind?
Do you feel more global than specific?

Now take a different coloured pens and mark on the scale how you would like to see your self.
Define your own axes.

WHY GENES RULE

Following the successful decoding of the Human Genome in 2001, molecular biology was raised to the status of singular secular religion by many. And yet today it cannot boast much success, cures for cancer and depression remain a utopian dream because of the relationship between genes and the environment has proven to be more complicated than initially assumed. And yet it is conceivable that in the future we will no longer turn to a psychoanalyst or confession in search for self knowledge, but rather complete sequencing of our personal genome.

Possible consequences of increasing geneticisation:

Positive genetics: Prenatal and pre-implantation not only mean genetic disease will die and also prevent existence of genetically abnormal people. (In Denmark the number of Down syndrome babies being born has gone down by 50% since the introduction of screening throughout the country).

CSI realities:

DNA databases simplify the (worldwide) search for criminals.

New customer structure and health insurance: 

Classified according to customers molecular makeup.

Personalised medication:

Ingredients are chosen on the basis of a persons individual biochemistry.

New Class Society

US molecular biologist Leanne M. Silver (authour of controversial book 'Remaking Eden'), predicts the division of society into 'natural', 'gene-enhanced' and 'gene-rich' people. The 'gene-rich' about 10% of the worlds population will no longer interbreed with the 'naturals'.

The end of solidarity

When social problems have their origins in a persons biological make-up,would the state and society no longer be responsible for social conditions?

Personal responsibility 

The Genome debate reveals a paradoxical simultaneously of determinism (gene dictate your life) and personal responsibility (those who have a predisposition predisposition for cancer they themselves are responsible for trying to prevent it).

Discovering an IQ gene 

If such a gene could be found us sociologists Thomas lemke, would not the notion of the inherent equality of all humans become obsolete, as there would no longer be a 'natural foundation' for it?

Would we abolish human rights? And above all: who would we be?

And also: finding the 'missing link'

Through the hybridization of chimpanzee DNA human DNA it will be a kind of rebirth of the australopithecus. The first pre-human.

We are not equal to the perfection of our products. We are producing more than we can answer for. We also think we are allowed to do what we're doing. Gunther Anders

WHY COMPUTERS ARE OVERTAKING US

The answer can be found in the acronym CPU (Central Processing Unit). In 1965 Gordon Moore made a prognosis that still applies today, the number of transistors in a CPU doubles approximately every 24 months. In other words computers became twice as fast every two years. 

Lets look at the inner workings of a computer: imagine the main storage as a warehouse, it is the computer's long-term memory. The RAM (Random Access Memory) it the short term memory and the CPU is a processor that stores new and retrieves old data. The difficulty is not in storing more information, the warehouse can be enlarged if needed, but in processing it.  The increased CPU performance means that we can now watch videos on a mobile phone. Not so long ago we could only write text messages, now smartphones are supposed to be able to do everything at once with the result that just like PC they can crash. The technology experiences an information overload.

Moore;s theory is not  a law of nature. The most important question is: is there a limit to a computers performance? Yes, says Moore. No, says the futurist Ray Kurzweil: in 2049 you will be able to buy a computer for $1,000 with a processing power equivalent to the brain capacity of living people. What does this mean? 

'I was surprised by it's human abilities' Garry Kasparov, after he lost again the chess computer Blue Deep in 1997

WHICH INDISTRIES STIMULATE ECONOMIC GROWTH

According to Russian Economist Nikolai Kondratieff the global economy develops in overlapping cycles or 'long waves'. To start of each of these waves is a basic innovation i.e. an innovation that causes a fundamental structural change and influences the whole of society. The new technology is invested in for forty to sixty years and thereby stimulates the economy, until the mode of production reaches it's limits and there is no more growth. The search begins for a new innovation which heralds the next cycle.

The first Kondratieff was triggered by the invention of the steam engine and innovations of the textile industry. Steel and the invention of the railway marked the second Kondratieff. These two cycles were dominated by Great Britain. The third Kondratieff, electrical engineering and chemical industry was dominated by Germany and America. During the fourth Kondratieff the automotive and petrochemical Industries, the USA established itself as a global power. It was the Apex of industrial society. The oil crisis marked the changeover from an industrial zone to an information society: The fifth Kondratieff. With the global recession of 2001 2003, the sweeping potential of this technology declined. At the same time the six cycle was being established: the health market including biotechnology and psychosocial sector (eg therapies) as well as environmental technology. Here's Leo A Nefiodow, and expert on Kondratieff cycles, on the sixth cycle: The health cycle isnt really about health care, it is just called this. More than 97% of the financial capital is spent on research into and diagnosis therapy and management of diseases. In fact it's an illness cycle.

The length of the cycles their triggers as well as their impact are contentious. An important indicator for judging a Kondratieff cycle is volume of work that it generates. In developing countries the industry is creating as many new jobs as the health sector.

'I think that nowadays it is health, not sex that acts as a form of moral ie social control. It's all about controlling the body: staying slim, staying fit, eating properly'. Paul Strasburg

WHY CHANGE

Change is generally welcomed or at leased regarded as inevitable. But is this really so? just an example, why is a year in which company earned the same as the before regarded as unsuccessful? While searching for answers we came across this model by blogger Jessie Hagy.

The similarities between the way things are (A) and the way things will be (B) are often greater than expected (C). In other words even following big changes, much stays the same.

But the model can also read differently: Professor Philipp Zimbardo believes there are three categories of people who can be defined according to which 'time zone' they live in:

Focused on the past: 'Past Negative' those who define themselves according to their misfortunes and missed opportunities in the past and 'Past Positives' (those who are nostalgic and romanticise the past).

Focused on the present: 'Headonist's' (those searching for happiness) and 'non-planners' those who believe in fate, for whom the future cannot be planned. e.g because of religion or class affiliation).

Focused on the future: 'Planners' (Life is what you make it) and 'After-lifers' ('real' life begins only after the body has died)

In the Western world the vast majority of people are focused either on the 'past' or the 'future'.

So is C always getting smaller because we are too preoccupied with A or B?

'If I ain't broke, don't fix it'

WHAT 'IT' IS

As we discovered with Moores Law, there are signals that computers could surpass the human brain and evolve into a kind of artificial intelligence. The point at which this will happen is called 'technological singularity'. Some people say it is the moment at which machines will gain the upper hand.

The more we use it, the more it learns. The more it learns, the more we use it. It's omnipresent, it is all around it in-prisons our minds, it is supposed to distract us from the fact we are trapped. It knows where we are and knows where we were, it knows more or less what we are thinking. When it was created it was not seen as intelligent, because it is made up of codes and doesn't have a body, it is faceless. Because there are a million ways of accessing it, it is hard to say where it is. And because it is a combination of our intelligence and an alien digital memory it is hard to say what it is. 

It will change everything. It is hard to explain what it is, you have to experience it for yourself.

(compiled from text by Kevin Kelly, Ray Kurzweil, Eric Schmidt, Andy and Lana Wachowski)

WHY THE SMALL FISH ARE OVERTAKING THE BIG FISH

How can I make more money? is a question all company managers ask themselves. One they don't understand themselves enough is: 'Have I missed out on a new development?' So argues Harvard Economist Clayton Christensen, who investigated by industry leaders usually miss the boat when it comes to developing groundbreaking innovations. His work is considered a milestone in economic research Christensen distinguishes between s'ustainable innovation' the improvement of existing products that are designed to keep prices and margins high and 'disruptive innovation', the lauching of new products and typically simpler, faster, cheaper. In most cases established companies trying to improve successful products that already meet more than the customers needs. Christensen calls it 'overshooting': the managers of a company producing a product have no idea why their product is so popular and ignore what customers really want in favour of adding yet more non essential features. For eample, who ever never uses all the features in Microsoft Word?

Because these companies focus on their existing markets rather than developing new products they don't see the threat of disruptive innovations coming from below. As a result they overlook disruptive innovation ganes a share of the market and eventually end up replacing the previously leading product.

I don't know if it gets better or if it's different. But it has to be different to be good 

Georg Christoph Lichtenberg