4 ms·

The internet was supposed to clear out all the middlemen. The websites consumers and factories use should be completely commodified and under strong competition

The internet was supposed to clear out all the middlemen. The websites consumers and factories use should be completely commodified and under strong competition, and with lots of innovation, like in the early days. Very disappointing.

rahimnathwani 4y ago
E-commerce isn't just about websites. If I buy a charging cord from a factory owner, how long before I have it in my hand? And how much will shipping cost? The fact that I can order a charging cord (or 10 different ones from 10 different manufacturers) and have them delivered tomorrow is innovation.
- UweSchmidt 4y ago
  Market forces on a commodified, non-monopolized playing field should come up with all that innovation and bring us that charging cord faster and cheaper, and/or through a wider variety of curated market places and organic charging cord communities.
  - rahimnathwani 4y ago
    "organic charging cord communities" I honestly cannot tell whether you're joking.
    - UweSchmidt 4y ago
      I tried to be a little concise. These days we mostly wonder which Amazon review is fake, and which product might be counterfeit. In the earlier days of the internet niche forums surprised with exciting and on-point information and initiative. Back to your charging cord example, a store could innovate and stand out by offering reliable off-brand alternatives for things like charging cords. Such innovation is less likely when a monopolist is holding on to most of the market share. Back to my main point: The basic logistics of distributing products around the world should be equally good or better in a world without monopolists - theoretically, monopolies extract a surplus (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopoly#/media/File:Monopoly-surpluses.svg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopoly#/media/File:Monopoly-...), intuitively it's obvious ("why try when you don't have to").

rahimnathwani 4y ago

E-commerce isn't just about websites. If I buy a charging cord from a factory owner, how long before I have it in my hand? And how much will shipping cost? The fact that I can order a charging cord (or 10 different ones from 10 different manufacturers) and have them delivered tomorrow is innovation.

UweSchmidt 4y ago
Market forces on a commodified, non-monopolized playing field should come up with all that innovation and bring us that charging cord faster and cheaper, and/or through a wider variety of curated market places and organic charging cord communities.
- rahimnathwani 4y ago
  "organic charging cord communities" I honestly cannot tell whether you're joking.
  - UweSchmidt 4y ago
    I tried to be a little concise. These days we mostly wonder which Amazon review is fake, and which product might be counterfeit. In the earlier days of the internet niche forums surprised with exciting and on-point information and initiative. Back to your charging cord example, a store could innovate and stand out by offering reliable off-brand alternatives for things like charging cords. Such innovation is less likely when a monopolist is holding on to most of the market share. Back to my main point: The basic logistics of distributing products around the world should be equally good or better in a world without monopolists - theoretically, monopolies extract a surplus (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopoly#/media/File:Monopoly-surpluses.svg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopoly#/media/File:Monopoly-...), intuitively it's obvious ("why try when you don't have to").