
Atoms Are Not Bits; Wired Is Not A Business Magazine - blasdel
http://gizmodo.com/5457461/atoms-are-not-bits-wired-is-not-a-business-magazine
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mr_eel
The whole point of the original article is that changing technologies are
allowing smaller scale businesses to enter markets that were previously denied
to them. It's _not_ about changing how existing hobby industries work. The
author has failed to look beyond the hobbyist examples used in the Wired
article.

It's also about being able to enter niche markets that larger manufacturers
aren't interested in. There are plenty of markets that require a high standard
of complexity in both design and manufacturing, yet are too small for larger
companies to care about. As the cost of both drops, so it becomes more viable.

Also, despite the author's disparaging remarks, being able to do small scale
runs in China is significant, because not so long ago this was _inconcievable_
for many businesses.

It's fair to bash Wired for the hyperbole -- it's not a revolution yet -- but
Giz's critique is shallow and doesn't address the basic argument; that the
lowered cost has increased access to equipment and skills for industrial
design and manufacture. That this change will lead to greater numbers of
smaller businesess operating in new niche markets, or markets otherwise
previously denied to them because of scale.

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dan_the_welder
This is where I live. I am a small business or two. I have been building my
own CNC machines. I manufacture a niche product.

The comments on this article are mostly regurgitated economist speak,
efficiency figures prominently. The fact of the matter is, efficiency means
one group gets as much of the pie as possible.

There are lots of people and they all need to earn a living. Big business
strives for efficiency and they lay people off, because they are efficient.
You however are unemployed.

Small businesses are only going to grow in number and the amazing thing about
this phase that we are in is that sophisticated tools are becoming widely
available. That means that small businesses will be able to produce more and
more sophisticated products, creating more jobs as a result of this terrible
inefficiency.

The future looks like this: Commodities and niche products.

