Disruption
There's nothing Silicon Valley loves more than
disruption.
If we were optimistic, we could say that disruption is akin to
Schumpeter's creative destruction. [1]
Disruption is driven by technology; by deregulation; or by ignoring
the rules.
Technological: If a large part of the population chooses to
"inform"" themelves using Facebook, the future will probably not
look very good for newspapers.
Deregulation: If the government loosens the rules in a given field,
fewer rules will lead to more innovation. Sometimes it works.
The Far West: New companies enter a market, be it rooms for rent or
urban transport, and simply ignore the rules, right, wrong or
old-fashioned as they may be.
But what is left for the "disrupted"?
Nothing. The disrupted are little more than negative externalities
of history. "Progress" cannot and will not be stopped.
William Gibson said: "The future is here – it's just not evenly
distributed".
Nor is it distributed evenly. [2]
[1]
Schumpeter, Joseph.
Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy.
[2]
Gibson was interested in saying that the future
would arrive. Perhaps it is time to give some thought to how this
future is affecting our societies.
