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.
2 Comments
The real competition is yourself.
You are actually competing against yourself - to not remain status quo, to be better.
Those who point the finger of blame or cause at others need to realize that obstacles in their path can be removed if they apply mind and spirit to them.
Indeed competition is everywhere but this crowd-sourcing may not be a threat yet: to pose a challenge on the websites means giving information to the world about certain operations or product intentions which companies prefer to keep under the blanket fearing market competitors.
On the topic of China/India: there are problems that doesn’t need brainpower but muscle power and it is the cost of labour from countries with muscle power (eg, China and India) that’s killing us. Aside: Quality may be a concern but if the overall cost of defect turns out to be cheaper than the cost savings from concentrating labour intensive work, outsourcing may still be the answer for big corporations.