"o mundo para as EDP deste mundo está à beira de mudar de forma dramática" (parte II)

Recordando "o mundo para as EDP deste mundo está à beira de mudar de forma dramática" ler "Millennials and Their iPhones Are Killing Your Old Power Company":

"‘The conventional utility model is dying,’ Innogy chief says
.
More than half of industry executives fear a ‘death spiral’"

A ascensão do artesão e da arte na produção (parte II)

Ontem publicámos "A ascensão do artesão e da arte na produção". Depois, ao princípio da tarde fui brindado com:

@ccz1 https://t.co/fJe9UohNuv

— highalpha (@veryhighalpha) April 24, 2017

Entretanto, ao fim da tarde de ontem ainda deparei com:

• Barbearias. “Para se ser barbeiro tem de se ter amor à arte”
• Este pão antigo é fresco e só tem cereais portugueses
• The Artisanal Economies, Entry # 1: the Sofi interview (muito bom, a ler na íntegra)

"Several things happen in this conversation but one of them is that we begin to see into the history, we might even say the “intentions,” of the objects on the shelves. We begin to see that these things come from someone, that they were crafted to a purpose that begins with “coffee mug” and then scales up to include the lifestyle, the community, the economy, the culture that might be loosely designed artisanal.
Ah, now we get it. That’s why things cost more. That object on the shelf of Wal-mart doesn’t have a story. It was made by a stranger in a factory in Chengdu, shipped across an ocean, and banged around in the distribution system until it just happened to roll to a stop here on a shelf. It doesn’t mean very much because capitalism was so busy giving it value, it forgot to give it meaning.
And that’s what Sofi is for, to gently help you see what the mug means. Yes, we can buy a cheaper mug somewhere. But ,by this standard, cheaper doesn’t feel better, it feels poorer. As if everyone in the production – consumption chain as been diminished by the effort.
So, we could say, if we were rushing to conclusions (and that is what we do here), that retail is not merely the last moment in the distribution chain. It completes the meaning making process. And more to the point, it helps consumers understand and grasp the “artisanal premium” they are required to pay. It’s always true to say “we get what we pay for.” The very point of Olives and Grace is to help us see what we’re paying for. It helps solve the problem of cheap food."

A ascensão do artesão e da arte na produção

"Craft skills have been embraced by the fashion world in recent years as the boundaries between art and fashion blur. Today, artists collaborate on designer collections, while fashion brands sponsor art fairs. Increasingly, labels are exploring artisanal craft through clothes
...
And designers are creating artisanal-minded homeware
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 the old notion of faceless, mechanised luxury is dead. He believes fashion brands today must be borne out of craftsmanship skills that recognise the value of the human hand. “Craft is our bread and butter at Loewe,” says the 32-year-old designer."

Em alinhamento completo com o que escrevemos aqui há milhares de anos sobre Mongo (Estranhistão), sobre a importância da arte na democratização da produção contra o vómito industrial, sobre a ascensão do artesão. E a reforçar o que penso será o futuro da impressão 3D, não na casa de cada um mas no artesão dos ciber-bairros que frequentaremos.

• Há sempre uma alternativa (parte II) (Maio de 2011)

"Sildávia!!!
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Não arrisquei escrever Albânia como símbolo de país pobre e atrasado, porque desconfio que nos hão-de ultrapassar enquanto tivermos estas políticas chavistas-de-gravata-à-europeia.
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Qual a alternativa?
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Ainda e sempre a ARTE!!!
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Mentes algemadas olham para a fotografia da realidade e desesperam... e enterram a cabeça entre as mãos e prolongam a espiral viciada que há-de levar ao fim "at some stage".
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Quem aposta na arte, faz como os artistas, em vez de ver nos obstáculos algo a derrubar, tenta tirar partido da situação, procurando uma pedra angular de onde possa começar a construir uma diferença.
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Se o pintor usa uma tela, usa pincéis, tintas e luz para criar a obra de arte, o que as empresas devem fazer é reunir o equivalente a esses materiais:"

• Não é passado, é futuro (Setembro de 2015)
• H2H (Fevereiro de 2017)
• Acerca do futuro da impressão 3D (parte II) (Fevereiro de 2017)

E recordo este slide daqui (12:36):

Trechos retirados de "Why fashion is turning to craft"

Já depois de escrever o texto acima encontrei "The Crafting Organisation":

"What if we were to evolve craftsmanship as a true practice for all of us? What if we talked about the ‘Crafting Organisation’, a business operating from a position of deep self-belief, always in beta, curious and confident to face the future? The Crafting Organisation is elegant in everything it does. Seeing the potential of creating beautiful outcomes in the most unusual ways.
...
Is this not a more beautiful way to describe business which not only embraces our humanity, but celebrates it? Tim Smit founder of the Eden Project likes to say that beauty will be the most important word we use over the next 15 years. I would also argue that craft is not far behind."

Que preparação?

Este texto "Does Shopping Still Have a Future? What if Shoppers Became Makers?" está em linha com o que aqui costumamos escrever sobre Mongo, sobre o Estranhistão, sobre a democratização da produção, sobre o futuro da evolução do retalho. Fez-me lembrar o almoço do passado dia 10 onde discutimos este tema com os gerentes e director financeiro de uma fábrica.

"One of the possibilities that is now often put forward by experts and already giving rise to many business promises is the idea of providing customers with the opportunity to make, prepare, grow, or build their own things.
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The success of collaborative spaces — coworking spaces, makerspaces, fab labs, hackerspaces — that have spread fast in urban centres (and sometimes also in more rural areas), testifies to the idea that modern-day commons are indeed being (re)invented. The popular makers movement is further evidence that the Do It Yourself trend continues to spread across the globe."

Já fui mais crente neste modelo. Actualmente acredito mais num futuro em que os clientes recorrerão a especialistas glocais com quem replicarão as relações com os artesãos do passado.

O que não me oferece dúvida nenhuma é a necessidade das lojas físicas do futuro se reinventarem, de encontrarem novos modelos que atraiam os clientes. Sem isso, nada feito.

Isto é muito importante para o comércio português mas também para as PME, que produzem produtos com marca própria ou para marcas de outros, e que são vendidos no retalho físico.

Chamo a atenção para o lead do texto "Always-On Strategy":

"Why do companies fail or fall behind their rivals? Among the many reasons, three stand out. Some companies miss a major strategic shift or industry disruption. Others see a big change coming but fail to develop the right strategy in response. And some define a winning strategy but are not able to implement it effectively."

"Smart contracts substitute boundaries"

"Smart contracts substitute boundaries. The architecture of a firm is a live social graph of networked interdependence and accountability."

Este trecho que li ontem ficou-me na memória porque, de certa forma, relaciona-se com conversa que tive durante a manhã numa reunião em Gaia. Conversa em que discutíamos o quanto a tecnologia está a baixar as barreiras à entrada (a democratizar a produção) e a permitir arranjos empresariais novos e exóticos.

O que antes existia sob o tecto de uma empresa caminha cada vez mais para ser realizado por uma orquestra de entidades independentes.

As ideias de Coase e o papel da tecnologia na redução da fricção.

Consigo recuar a Michael Hammer (Junho de 2007) e a uma previsão: a extensão da reengenharia do interior das empresas para os fluxos inter-empresas.

"No fundo trata-se de uma vertente de aplicação do conceito que Michael Hammer promoveu no seu livro "The agenda", publicado em 2001(?). Depois de aplicar a re-engenharia internamente (e ainda há muito por fazer a este nível nas empresas e sobretudo na Administração Pública - basta recordar que a aplicação de metodologias de gestão na Administração Pública norte-americana, levou ao corte do número de funcionários públicos nos Estados Unidos em cerca de 15-20% durante a administração Clinton), pode e deve-se replicar o conceito na relação com os clientes e com os fornecedores. Se deitarmos abaixo as paredes que nos separam dos clientes, porque é que o cliente há-de ter armazém de matéria-prima? Porque é que o cliente há-de ter dinheiro enterrado em inventário e instalações? Porque é que o cliente há-de ter pessoal que não gera valor, a pastorear inventário? Porque é que o fornecedor não entrega directamente à produção do cliente? Idêntico pensamento pode ser feito a montante, em relação aos fornecedores."

Só que aqui a realidade está a seguir um percurso que não conseguia prever em 2007. Não é a reengenharia entre as entidades do passado (a empresa e os seus fornecedores e clientes) é a explosão da empresa clássica em entidades mais pequenas.

Trecho retirado de "Business game design"

O factor descurado

A propósito de "The optimist’s guide to the robot apocalypse" há um factor descurado e que me perturbou sobremaneira a leitura do mesmo.

Será que o tipo de produção, as quantidades a produzir vão ser as mesmas?

Será que a automatização não vai acelerar a democratização da produção? O que por sua vez acelerará a diversidade e aumentará a personalização? O que por sua vez reduzirá o tamanho médio dos lotes? O que poderá reduzir o tamanho médio das empresas grandes?

Plataformas com um outro mindset

Este texto "Digital trade unions will empower tomorrow's sharing economy employees" mereceu-me este comentário no Twitter:

Olhar para as plataformas que existem hoje e olhá-las com o mindset do século XX... é muito pobre.

Assim como assistiremos cada vez mais à democratização da produção, porque não pensar numa nova geração de plataformas, plataformas cooperativas:

• Estratégia em todo lado - não é winner-take-all (parte IV);
• Plataformas cooperativas;
• Rumo às plataformas cooperativas;
• Acerca das plataformas de negócio;
• Plataformas em todo o lado;
• Fermat.org;
• Isto é só o começo...;
• Plataformas e interacção;
• Plataformas, Mongo, emprego e confiança nas marcas;
• Escrito nas estrelas;
• Plataformas e sobre a sua gestão.

Se acreditarmos no "não é winner-take-all" é possível pensarmos em plataformas geridas pelos próprios.

"It’s a move to a more equalised and humane society"

Ainda voltarei a "The Great Fragmentation : why the future of business is small" de Steve Sammartino. No entanto, não resisto a citar aqui o último sublinhado que fiz no livro:

"While at various points in this book it may seem like I’m dancing on the grave of the industrial revolution, and singing a happy song about the end of powerful industries or even corporations, I’m not. What I’m doing is trying to help everyone realise that what made companies big yesterday is likely to be their unravelling tomorrow. The tools of life and business are now in the hands of everyone.
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Mass is quickly fragmenting into a world of niche, smaller and more distributed things. And big businesses that need a new survival manifesto need to embrace the fragmented nature if they want to stay ‘big’.
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We are entering the age of post-scarcity abundance. The great fragmentation isn’t just great because it’s huge or amazing — although, in fact, it really is. It’s much more than that. It’s a move to a more equalised and humane society where the power to know and the power to participate are being handed back to everyone.[Moi ici: Por isso, rio-me com os que antevêem um mundo fabril  dominado pela automatização. Vejo sim o fim das empresas grandes que vomitam produções comoditizadas e a ascensão dos pré-industriais artesãos apoiados pelas máquinas com a democratização da produção] Both economically and socially, just about everything is being democratised for good. I think it’s better than good … I think it’s great."

É, sem dúvida, um bom resumo do que acredito ser o que Mongo nos vai trazer e que é possível intuir ao ler este blogue ao longo dos anos.

Outro exemplo analógico de Mongo; o chocolate

Na coluna do lado direito, nas citações, encontra-se:

"When something is commoditized, an adjacent market becomes valuable"

Ontem, ao ler "Little Chocolate’s Big Moment" sorri quando encontrei:

"“When you have increasing concentration of producers in the center, you leave room on the periphery for specialization,”
...
In other words, as all the stuff in the middle, whether it’s from Hershey’s or Budweiser, gets more similar, there’s more room for outliers, whether from Dandelion or Brooklyn Brewery."[Moi ici: Vêem a lógica do canadiano e por que ela pode resultar?]

O artigo, para um missionário do Evangelho do Valor, um adepto da concorrência imperfeita que prevê um paradigma económico chamado Mongo, é das coisas mais deliciosas que se podem ler.

"Craft chocolate, like beer and coffee before it, is ready to go mainstream."

Lá chegaremos ao tempo em que o craft estará de volta, para alimentar e ser alimentado num baile de co-criação, a todos os sectores de actividade económica:

"The backlash against Big Food has crept from the supermarket’s beer and coffee aisles into the chocolate aisle—a rejection of candy as commodity, its units identical and cheap."

E para os que acreditam que tudo se resume a custos:

"At Whole Foods, for example, which sells only bars that it considers "ethically sourced,” the number of chocolate suppliers has increased 50 percent in the last four years.
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“I don’t think Mars or Hershey has anything to worry about,” says Clay Gordon, a craft chocolate adviser, teacher, and author. The difference between craft chocolate (small, artisanal) and industrial stuff (mass-made, consistent), he says, is so fundamental that they aren’t really competitors."[Moi ici: Por isto é que deixei de pensar em David vs Golias e passei a David e Golias]

BTW, os problemas da Hershey com a compra da anterior marca craf Scharffen Berger só ilustram aquele repelão das tribos:

"-Tu não és meu irmão de sangue!"

H2H

Há dias numa empresa falava-se em B2B e das suas diferenças para o B2C quando alguém disse que tinha lido algo sobre o H2H (human to human).

Rapidamente a minha mente abstraiu-se da conversa e, por momentos, voou para a metáfora de Mongo.

Em Mongo a explosão de tribos, a banalização da customização, a democratização da produção e a necessidade da co-criação irá levar-nos para o regresso dos artesãos, dos alfaiates e modistas em todos os aspectos da nossa vida.

Assim, as relações económicas vão tender cada vez mais para uma relação de uma pessoa, cliente, com outra pessoa, ou equipa, artesão(s). Ou seja, de humano para humano H2H.

Uma novela sobre Mongo (parte III)

Parte I e parte II.

I understand and is noble
But is so XXth Century thinking https://t.co/89xwQhDJRx

— Carlos P da Cruz (@ccz1) December 9, 2016

Porque Mongo é tão estranho e mete medo a muita gente:

"the ability to create products that enable us to own the tools is where the economy is headed.
It’s what technology wants. It fragments down to the micro level and becomes personal. The job of the corporate hero of tomorrow is to provide a platform for customer independence.
.
The reason why it’s hard for companies to cope with this shift to micro businesses, is that it’s a multi-generational shift. Given that the dawn of the industrial revolution was in the late 1700s, and if we use 30 as an average age for a new parent (it used to be much lower), we’re living through a nine-times generational shift in lifestyle and economic understanding. This is a significant amount of indoctrination handed down from parents and employers of how things should be done and what works in this world. It’s pretty hard to unlearn all of this, especially when most of it has been proven empirically. [Moi ici: O modelo do emprego do século XX não é necessariamente a última Coca-Cola no meio do deserto, foi uma criação bem sucedida e ajustada a um certo tempo e desenvolvimento técnico-cultural. Muito provavelmente dará lugar a modelos mais assentes no empreendedorismo.]
...
The problem is that our business environment is changing quickly and the habits of large organisations are not [Moi ici: E não são só elas, é também o Estado habituado a esse modelo e todas as suas funções que dele dependem. Imaginem o impacte de algo deste tipo nas escolas, por exemplo, sem a protecção do Estado]. They prefer all replacement staff to have the same industry experience, the same education, the same previous job title, the same customer experience, and experience in the same channels of distribution, which is essentially a risk-reduction strategy for the hiring manager if things turn out badly rather than a growth strategy for the organisation. It’s not surprising, given that the primary role in large organisations is to protect against the financial downside rather than chase a revenue upside. This course of action works as long as the business and technology environments remain stable. The problem is that our business environment is changing quickly and the habits of large organisations are not."

Trechos retirados de "The Great Fragmentation : why the future of business is small" de Steve Sammartino.

Século XXI vs século XX

Um texto sobre Mongo e muito em linha com o que aqui defendemos, "How We Will Kill Uber & Hijack the Internet of Things":

"Our third industrial revolution will be our last, according to Rifkin. I never say never, but he is confident this will mark the end of mass employment.
...
But in Rifkin’s rosier view, “prosumers” will create and share physical products and services the same way we do WordPress posts today. “We’ll spend part of our day sharing, part of the day making money.”
...
The most ambitious part of Jeremy’s vision is people will use tools like 3D printing, apps, and GPS to create cooperatives powerful enough to kill off Uber. Yes, kill off Uber."

Tudo coisas que aqui defendemos:

• o fim do emprego em massa criado pela revolução industrial do século XX;
• os prosumers;
• a democratização da produção;
• o fim da Uber.

Mongo a bater à porta. Tão bom!!!

Ontem no Twitter o @nticomuna chamou a atenção para este artigo precioso, "Deutsche Post van signals new entrant threat to auto industry".
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O artigo é um exemplo da tendência que enquadramos no fenómeno a que chamamos de Mongo. Os gigantes, emaranhados com o seu umbigo, muito preocupados com a eficiência e os custos, tentando ser tudo para todos, abrem as oportunidades a novos actores. Já escrevi aqui várias vezes acerca da tendência junto dos consumidores com o Local Motors. Agora, é no B2B:

"German logistics giant Deutsche Post has designed and built its own electric delivery van, exploiting sweeping changes in manufacturing technology which could upend the established order in the auto industry.
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For the moment, Deutsche Post is using the vehicles itself to meet growing demand for e-commerce deliveries without adding to air pollution in German cities, replacing conventional Volkswagen vans.
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But having decided to go it alone with the project - upsetting VW "beyond measure" - the group will soon decide whether to start selling the Streetscooter model and join those set to compete directly with established automakers.
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Advances in manufacturing software are allowing the likes of Deutsche Post, Google and start-ups to tap suppliers to design, engineer and test new vehicle concepts without hiring thousands of engineering staff or investing billions in tooling and factories.[Moi ici: outra forma de democratização da produção]
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Technical and engineering know-how among this network of suppliers has blossomed since traditional manufacturers began farming out research and development to keep their own costs down after the global financial crisis of 2008-09.
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Deutsche Post says it took this route when the conventional vehicle makers turned down requests to build the electric vans in what are limited numbers by their standards.[Moi ici: Isto é tão previsível!!! Isto mata a inovação nas empresas grandes, só projectos mega é que passam no crivo, os únicos com potencial de retorno mega. Só que projectos mega são para lá do chasm de Geoffrey Moore, não podem ser inovadores, por definição. BTW, recordar isto.]
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"We are purposely not reinventing the wheel. We do not produce a single component ourselves. Everything comes from a supplier,"
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With e-commerce orders rising, Deutsche Post knew increasing inner city delivery trips would mean more pollution unless it switched to zero-emission vehicles. "We scanned the market. There was no electric van available so we decided to build our own," Deutsche Post board member Juergen Gerdes told Reuters.
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Electric vehicles - which are far simpler in design than combustion-engined cars - require only a tenth of the staff during assembly, dramatically lowering production costs.
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"We designed it as a tool. So the fit and finish does not need to be as good as in a passenger car," Neidlinger said.
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Analysts say Deutsche Post has shown the motor industry's shortcomings. "They have opened up a new segment, one which the conventional carmakers have not discovered because they are too hamstrung by their own processes,"
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For commercial reasons he wouldn't put a price on the Streetscooter, but said: "It did not cost billions to develop and produce. You will not believe how cheap it is to make.""

Acerca do trabalho em Mongo

Outra previsão feita há vários anos neste blogue:

"The time is ripe for entrepreneurs, but will employees survive the next evolution? Maybe, but they're going to have to change, now.
.
The work world is shifting in favor of those who want to do something, contribute, create, innovate, make meaning, and own their lives. Recent studies show the workplace is headed in a participatory direction that will not accommodate traditional employees stuck in Industrial Age management structures.[Moi ici: Conjuguem isto com DIY, com democratização da produção, explosão de tribos, tribos mais aguerridas, plataformas cooperativas e Mongo]
...
Trend #1: Crowdsourcing and Crowdsource services. People will work everywhere and some will never meet. Just-in-time labor will reduce the number of permanent employees.
...
Trend #2: Productivity measured in outputs, not hours.[Moi ici: Tantas discussões sobre a produtividade e os salários portugueses porque a maioria só mede as horas]
...
Trend #3: Values vs. rules. Values, which guide and encourage personal initiative, will be more prevalent than rules, which box people in, dull their thinking, and keep them from innovating.
...
Trend #4: Employee-led innovation. The best innovation will come from the "bottom up," not from management or R&D departments."

Trechos retirados de "Unmotivated Employees Won't Like Where The Work World Is Headed"

O fim do capitalismo dos últimos 200 anos

"Starbucks has become an everyday stop for millions.
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But that ubiquity could now be its problem.
“Starbucks is now competing with chains like Dunkin’ Donuts and McDonald’s,” Business Insider proclaimed this week. “It has gotten, in a sense, too basic.”
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So what’s an overexposed company to do?
Starbucks in recent years has begun looking for ways to restore its luster.
...
But can a brand that’s gone mainstream turn high-end again?
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“I’ll just say this: It’s much harder to go up-market than it is to do the opposite,”
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It’s a phenomenon Pam Danzinger calls “lux-flation”: Our ideas of what constitutes a premium product or experience are always evolving. “A brand like Starbucks starts at the top, and as it expands, it becomes the new normal,” said Danzinger, author of “Putting the Luxe Back in Luxury.” “Now it’s got to create that mystique once again.”
...
“They’re putting the human touch back into the equation,” Danzinger said. “That’s one way to regain that luxury edge.”[Moi ici: O oposto da Grab & Go, meter interacção, fugir da automatização]
...
But, he says, there have been some successes: In the early ’90s, Gucci was almost done for. [Moi ici: A propósito da Gucci, "De ajavardamento em ajavardamento] The Italian fashion company was in financial despair and its creative director was quoted as saying “no one would dream of wearing Gucci.” Then Tom Ford took over, and revived the brand, boosting sales and restoring the company to its previous glory.
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“There are examples, but it takes a lot of money and a lot of paring back,” Pedraza said. “And frankly, not every company has the courage to do that. Everything is so grow, grow, grow in today’s world. And before you know it, you have a mainstream brand that isn’t special anymore.”"[Moi ici: Julgo que há aqui qualquer coisa metafórica acerca do fim do capitalismo dos últimos 200 anos. Quando se chega ao fim da rua e não há mais terreno novo para explorar, e já não há possibilidade de crescer como dantes]

Trechos retirados de "Why ‘basic’ is bad for Starbucks".

Suspeito que no futuro me irei recordar muitas vezes deste texto "Hipsters and artists are the gentrifying foot soldiers of capitalism". Sobretudo deste trecho, tão ao modo de Mongo, tão ao modo de fechar o ciclo e voltar ao pré-Revolução Industrial:

"I asked the hipster owner and his beard-nurturing hipster customer (a tattooist from across the road) how they described themselves. “Socialists,” they replied, quickly adding that they were not looking “to build empires”, just to “make a living”. They had both left safe jobs working for the state and local government respectively. This led me to wonder about suggestions that the hipster may represent some form of reincarnated frontiersman/woman or pioneer. In many ways, I think they do. Their styling certainly harks back to the mid-to-late 19th century; to the British colonialists and the western frontiers. These people want to earn a reasonable living, independently, by “crafting” and “creating”. They, like the original pioneers, are explorers and artists and they are capitalists.
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Unlike the colonising pioneer of the past, however, the hipster is postmodern, post-industrial, and post-Fordist." 

Profecias fáceis

Em Novembro de 2013 fiz esta profecia fácil, demasiado fácil, "A reacção dos incumbentes a Mongo passará por coisas como esta".
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Em Abril de 2015 escrevi ""o mundo para as EDP deste mundo está à beira de mudar de forma dramática""
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Agora, leio "Blockchain Changes Business Model in European Energy Sector, Decentralized Power In View" e, sobretudo, leio "As solar installations multiply, U.S. utility companies fight back".
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Empresas grandes a terem de compensar os produtores de energia quando deixam a rede porque se tornaram autosuficientes.

""Of course the utility is powerful," Sherman says. "The utilities had a monopoly on energy here since... since there's been energy here. And they have a lot of friends in the legislature. What we're seeing is the utility, rather than adapting to the changes that are happening in the energy sector, they're choosing to blame rooftop solar and trying to place discriminatory charges and fees on rooftop solar customers.""

E aquela cena de terem de se ressarcir os custos afundados?

""We saw the change in Nevada, and we understand that what we do today puts lots of pressure and risk on the utilities after investments of hundreds of billions over 130 years,""

Market Networks

Mais uma peça no sentido de Mongo, no sentido de empresas mais pequenas, no sentido da democratização da produção. Tenho chamado a atenção para um futuro de plataformas cooperativas ou de 2ª geração, por contraponto às do tipo Uber ou Airbnb e, agora, encontro esta terminologia: Market Networks.
.
Este texto "From Social Networks To Market Networks" descreve uma evolução que reduz os custos das transacções, (recordar Coase) democratizando ainda mais o acesso de pequenas organizações, capazes de coordenarem equipas de indivíduos e outras empresas ao estilo dos projectos de Hollywood.

"This many-to-many transaction pattern is key. HoneyBook is an N-sided marketplace — transactions happen in a 360-degree pattern like a network. That makes HoneyBook both a marketplace and network.
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A market network often starts by enhancing a network of professionals that exists offline. Many of them have been transacting with each other for years using fax, checks, overnight packages and phone calls.
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By moving these connections and transactions into software, a market network makes it significantly easier for professionals to operate their businesses and clients to get better service."

Mais um sintoma do Estranhistão

Recordando o postal de ontem, "There is no such thing as an average or old-fashioned business", eis uma forma de materializar a ideia:

"The Guerrilla Gravity showroom in Denver is not where you pick out a bike. It’s where you help build one.
...
“Riders get to customize their bikes by color scheme and the components they want,” said Kristy Anderson, who co-founded the company in 2013. “Some people really want to watch their baby being built.”
...
“Just like craft beer, people are supporting small-batch manufacturing because it is their neighbors — people they know — doing it,” Anderson said.
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The bikes-to-beer comparison is apt. The rise of craft breweries in the United States saw consumers opting for unique varieties of beer produced by local artisans in small batches rather than the mass-produced brands that have dominated the market for so long.
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But craft brewers are just the tip of the small-batch manufacturing iceberg. Below the surface are hundreds of companies like Guerrilla Gravity, offering consumers a locally crafted product with a focus on quality and craftsmanship.
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Particularly in Colorado, small-batch manufacturers are seemingly everywhere.
...
“It’s generally born of passion, manifesting itself in products,” Sullivan said.
...
It’s easy to see how small-batch manufacturing is a trend, given the national interest in locally grown foods and the success of craft breweries. But what are the long-term prospects of these newer, smaller members of the manufacturing industry?
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The benefits these companies are finding in the small-batch model — in addition to appealing to consumers’ desires for well-crafted, local goods — suggests an economic advantage to staying small.
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“There’s an emotional connection when you know the makers, or when there is a story behind the product,” he said. “That connection to story and that connection to place is really powerful. And it’s resonating with consumers.”"

A democratização da produção é isto.

Trechos retirados de "Small-Batch Everything: Local Makers Follow Craft Beer Path To Success"

Mongo, diversidade e o fim da mass production

"So he went exploring online and found himself in a digital design community run by an Arizona-based carmaker, Local Motors. Best-known for its 3-D-printed car, the company relies on people like Sarmiento to bring brand-new vehicles to market in a matter of weeks — a business model driven by co-creation (a cousin of crowdsourcing) and micromanufacturing (a cousin of small-batch, locally sourced production).
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"We want the fastest speed to a good idea commercialized in the market; we want to be the maker; we want to sell it and service it out of our factory," says Local Motors CEO John B. Rogers Jr.
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"High volume, low pricing power, low cost, low margin — that's what Toyota or Hyundai have done very well with the automotive industry," Rogers says.
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His sights are on low volume, high price, low production cost, high margin: "My economy comes from being able to drive up my price because I can introduce new technology and get you to pay more because it's not available on another vehicle.""

Trechos retirados de "A 24-Year-Old Designed A Self-Driving Minibus; Maker Built It In Weeks"

Portanto, cheira-me a futurologia da treta (parte II)

Parte I.
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Textos deste tipo "Why AI will break capitalism." cheiram-me a um novo estilo de marxismo. Volto a sublinhar a crença ingénua destes artigos na inteligência como o factor fundamental nos negócios, na economia. TRETA!!! E treta da grande:

"Putting aside the ethics for a second, AI is essentially a new form of inter-species slavery. Instead of relying on our fellow species, we’re creating automated, non-human slaves. AI are just cattle versions of intelligence (once is created/bred for meat, the other for intelligence).
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Rather than capital now being a source of ownership and minor wealth generation, it can now be a source of exponential wealth creation — simply because AI continuously evolves and builds upon itself. It’s unique because it isn’t a static capital item.
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AI isn’t just a static piece of IP. It’s capable of building entirely new monopolies, businesses and ‘things’ all by itself.
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What’s more likely is that when we create AI that is break point for capitalism. Any variable to success can be bought and sold, and that means for those who have wealth, they can buy success instead of creating it. It’s a shift in the ‘fairness’ of capitalism, and the reward for someone putting in effort. When capital can beat humans on thinking, it’s hard to create a marketplace that doesn’t resemble feudalism (albeit minus the harsh living conditions)."

Recordo o insucesso dos 4 prémio Nobel referidos na parte I.
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Até parece que a evolução na Terra criou uma espécie de Vulcanos. Duh!
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Por que é que não somos todos Spocks? Porque não basta a lógica e o QI para ter sucesso neste mundo, também é preciso experimentar e ter sorte.

“The world can only be grasped by action, not by contemplation.”

Gente que acredita que a Sandy vence o MacGyver. Gente que não percebe que com a concorrência imperfeita e sem marxianismo a estória é outra:

"MacGyver: Well, old Sandy sure has a mind of her own, doesn't she?
Jill: Yes, but she thinks like me. So I should be able to think it through and find her pattern, logically and rationally.
MacGyver: Without the emotion, right?
Jill: That's what gives her the edge. People and emotion can't get in her way.
MacGyver: Well, I say we trust our instincts—go with our gut. You can't program that. That's our edge."

Gente que acredita num mundo pré-determinado e que só está à espera de suficiente capacidade computacional para poder ser dominado. Ingenuidade perigosa.
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Prefiro acreditar na arte, na ingenuidade e na sorte.
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Prefiro acreditar em Mongo sem exércitos puros, racionais e uniformizados. Prefiro acreditar em tribos, em individualidade, em DIY, em p2p.