The Next Industrial Revolution

It would seem the world is in the infancy of the next industrial revolution. Although this new revolution has actually been occurring for quite sometime in drips and drabs; its impact is starting to be felt far and wide. It has also brought with it deep social and economic changes that are affecting the world as we know it today.

Companies that do not learn to adapt to these changes may find it increasingly more difficult to earn income as these changes continue to affect their bottom line. Take for instance as just one example how the recording industry has been hit by these changes.

Early on they had the chance to adapt to these changes and make file sharing work in their favor. Instead they chose to ignore it and are now playing catch-up and alienating their own customers by suing them.

I am not saying that the recording industry is wrong for taking the stance that it did. However, in the long run is it a position that it can win?

YouTube.com is another example of this change. In a Cnet news.com article posted early today largely promoting the companies success, and second round funding. It also makes mention of YouTube.com having to struggle with removing unauthorized video clips from its site. People are posting, viewing, and sharing videos at such a fast pace the company just can’t keep up.

The real problem begins for YouTube.com when the company starts to earn serious cash from its success. How, will it keep from being sued and losing all of its revenue to lawsuits if it cannot find and remove ALL unauthorized content fast enough? At this point the company will become a victim of its own success.

This is only a small example of the changes that are out there. I am not trying to pick on or in any way have a negative impact on the successes or failures of YouTube.com or the recoding industry for that matter. Just to bring to light of the possible changes that may be lying ahead for us all.

Simply put how does a company maintain, or for that matter change its revenue model in order to profit from the ever increasing changes that are occurring with in our world.

How can we make money as individuals and institutions when information is shared so readily and freely?

The online environment has changed the way we conduct business, live our lives and most apparently how we share information with one another.

The last Industrial Revolution is what gave birth to our current way of life. What this new form will lead us to only the future can hold. One thing is for certain, it is having an impact on our social and economic lives already.