In kindergarten one of the values most emphasized (or at least when I had regularly scheduled naps and snack breaks…although that’s a few decades back at the least) is to share. Share your play toy. Share your snack. Share the computer.
However, up until recently the real world market models were designed with little consideration for sharing, and have been very lucrative for it. How many people would choose the comfort of their car over public transportation? How many of us would buy a CD only to sell it back when we were done? And why would a company want you to? Thanks to the Internet and the emerging “sharing economy” we have entirely new questions to ask. Read along for examples of the companies that are leading this collaborative economy.
One of the internet’s biggest areas of influence has been as an outlet for creative expression. The explosion of creativity that it has facilitated has in turn started to impact business models across industries as companies look to leverage their customers’ passions and desire for expression. The businesses that have done this best have reaped the commercial benefits. This trend has become so pronounced thatHarvard Professor Lawrence Lessig sees it as signaling the emergence of an entirely new economy – what he has termed a hybrid economy. But what does this idea of a hybrid economy really mean and what will be its impact?
