"As technology business consultant Nilofer Merchant has aptly put it, “The Web turns old industries [and government] on their head. Industries that have had monopolies or highly profitable duopolies are the ones most likely to be completely gutted when a more powerful, more efficient system comes along.”
"We need to hasten the inevitable arrival of that more efficient system on the doorstep of America’s most stubborn, foot-dragging, reactionary sector—government at the local, state, and especially federal levels, and its officially authorized customer-hating agents, the Democrats and Republicans."
In January, Gallup released its latest study on the question of political self-identification, finding "the proportion of independents in 2011 was the largest in at least 60 years"--a stunning 40 percent. Democrats were at a desultory 31 percent, and Republicans proved utterly unable to capitalize on a bad, Democrat-led economy, trending downward to 27 percent."
"No corner of the economy, of cultural life, or even of our personal lives hasn’t felt the gale-force winds of this change. Except government"..."Unlike government and its sub-entities, Kodak [the brand that was "always" considered Gold] couldn’t count on a guaranteed revenue stream."
"Kodachrome—subject not just of a hit Paul Simon song but of the 1954 antitrust settlement that the federal government was trying to maintain four decades later—vanished from stores in 2009, and developers stopped processing the stuff for good on New Year’s Day 2010..closed scores of plants, laid off more than 10,000 employees, and has now filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy"..."As recently as 1994, long after Japan’s Fujifilm had entered the scene, the Justice Department argued that the antitrust settlements should remain in force, since Kodak had “long dominated” the industry."
"When duopolies bleed share of a captive market, something potentially revolutionary is afoot."
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This article should stand on its own without allegiance to any party, any candidate running in 2012.
This is an excellent point. I mentioned something along these lines a few weeks ago in a discussion about the book retailing industry. When both of the biggest players in the industry (Border and Barnes & Noble) are either bankrupt or in serious financial distress, you know the entire industry is heading into the toilet.
Delightful essay.