10/ I'm going to shrug off pennies worth of electric power or wifi used for free as community goodwill. Stolen package, not so much.
Conversation
Replying to
21/ F. Pohl said "job of the sci-fi writer is to predict not the automobile but the traffic jam." Traffic jam is ALWAYS at leaves of tree
3
15
44
Replying to
22/ Literal traffic jams happen near cities. As s/w eats a network-provisioned service, traffic jam moves further down into capillaries.
1
5
Replying to
23/ *something something information in black hole is at surface, holographic principle*
1
5
Replying to
24/ I once pitched feature on last-mile to a mag; editor rejected it as too esoteric :D But if you get tech, it's where ALL action is
1
9
Replying to
25/ With VR, NFC, payments... It's not even the last block or last yard by your doorstep, it's the last inch from your face wherever you are
1
2
7
Replying to
26/ General topological theory why this happens. A more informationally powerful tech induces a higher resolution network structure
1
2
7
Replying to
27/ Resolution "delta" (tens of miles for trains/planes, miles for cars, blocks for foot/electricity, inches for wireless) extends network
1
5
Replying to
28/ Network core can be defined as the "low res" backbonet where economics allow aggregation leverage, and low transaction costs for $ flow
1
5
Replying to
29/ Every tech stops being organized by econ, starts being organized by social norms at its transaction resolution limit, set by tx costs
1
11
Replying to
30/ So sociologically, the last mile/block/inch is where the market stops and priceless values etc. start to kick in.
Replying to
31/ When large scale disruption happens due to a major tech like s/w, social-norms space gets systematically pushed back by market space.
1
1
8
Replying to
32/ Physics: this is tendency towards "plenty of room at the bottom" (Feynman). As market occupies that room, sociology yields to economics
2
6
Show replies
Replying to
this is right. Face to face, our humanity is what matters.
1
digital converts "last block" to on our skin / in our hand / connected to us.
1
2
Replying to
The allure of O2O (online-to-offline); Delivering personalised service-of-one (as opposed to mass services). Riches for the taking..


