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"My answer would be eventually yes, but not in the near future. Computer communication tools are still startlingly primitive. Based on experiments in office mic

by umjames 19y ago

"My answer would be eventually yes, but not in the near future. Computer communication tools are still startlingly primitive. Based on experiments in office microgeography,(http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/07/technology/07link.html http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/07/technology/07link.html) being closer to people still makes it far easier to exchange information." And interrupt people in the zone. Any information exchange between people in an office (especially programmers) works much better when the people involved are at equal talent levels. Otherwise, the lesser-talented people bug the crap out of the more-talented people with questions that could have been answered with a simple Google search.

sdurkin 19y ago
Yes, I would agree that is one of the many costs associated with a firm. However, I would say that the point of the article is that the increased coordination and communication of firms outweighs the associated costs of the office environment at present. One could argue that the internet makes the office/firm model of doing business obsolete by reducing the costs of outsourcing. To some extent this has already happened in the open source community as well as in user generated content websites such as wikipedia. In these cases, sophisticated projects are designed and built by individuals working at many locations. The crucial (and seemingly odd) distinction is that these projects are undertaken by individuals for no pay. I would argue that this allows some flexibility in the projects. Jobs, money, and lives rely far less on the success of an open-source project than on the success of a profit driven firm. It remains to be seen whether the contribution model of wikipedia could be translated to a bid model that would replace the traditional for-profit firm. In some industries, such as programming, the bid model has lower costs of decreased cooperation, and thus has occurred more quickly. However, I cannot see it taking root in "heavier" industries (engineering, manufacturing, consumer services) without a significant improvement in computer communication tools.
- Prrometheus 19y ago
  "The crucial (and seemingly odd) distinction is that these projects are undertaken by individuals for no pay. " When you pay someone, you need trust and contract enforcement.

by umjames 19y ago

sdurkin 19y ago

Yes, I would agree that is one of the many costs associated with a firm. However, I would say that the point of the article is that the increased coordination and communication of firms outweighs the associated costs of the office environment at present. One could argue that the internet makes the office/firm model of doing business obsolete by reducing the costs of outsourcing. To some extent this has already happened in the open source community as well as in user generated content websites such as wikipedia. In these cases, sophisticated projects are designed and built by individuals working at many locations. The crucial (and seemingly odd) distinction is that these projects are undertaken by individuals for no pay. I would argue that this allows some flexibility in the projects. Jobs, money, and lives rely far less on the success of an open-source project than on the success of a profit driven firm. It remains to be seen whether the contribution model of wikipedia could be translated to a bid model that would replace the traditional for-profit firm. In some industries, such as programming, the bid model has lower costs of decreased cooperation, and thus has occurred more quickly. However, I cannot see it taking root in "heavier" industries (engineering, manufacturing, consumer services) without a significant improvement in computer communication tools.

Prrometheus 19y ago
"The crucial (and seemingly odd) distinction is that these projects are undertaken by individuals for no pay. " When you pay someone, you need trust and contract enforcement.