Crowdsourcing: An Information Business Model

Posted by admin on June 28th, 2006 filed in General

From this very interesting article at Wired :

Technological advances in everything from product design software to digital video cameras are breaking down the cost barriers that once separated amateurs from professionals. Hobbyists, part-timers, and dabblers suddenly have a market for their efforts, as smart companies in industries as disparate as pharmaceuticals and television discover ways to tap the latent talent of the crowd. The labor isn’t always free, but it costs a lot less than paying traditional employees. It’s not outsourcing; it’s crowdsourcing.

Read the whole thing. You’ll find this very illuminating. And when you’re done reading, you’ll realise that those people who keep harping about competition from India and China are just being myopic. The real competition is not a bunch of foreigners in a far off place waiting to steal your job. The real competition is right here, around you, ordinary people like you and me who have gained entry into areas of work which used to be the province of professionals, simply because new and changing technology have given them the ability to.

Competition does not just come from China or India. Competition comes from everywhere. Whether it is China, or India, or your neighbour next door, the question is not who the competition is, but what you can do, or will do, that other people cannot.

Wired 14.06: The Rise of Crowdsourcing