New Year, New Economy
With a new year ahead, I often sit
back and wonder what this year will bring? Common things come to mind like will
I eat healthier, exercise more and will this recession ever end? On that note
(the recession) I recently stumbled upon a great article By Marc Andreessen who
believes that we are not only in a recession but a time of great economic
change. The old ways of doing business are changing with the help of software.
A few years back in August of 2011,
an article was published in the Wall Street Journal
where Marc Andreessen- a board member at Hewlett Packard – famously stated
"software is eating the world". Don’t worry, he wasn’t speaking
literally. If you haven't read the article you really should. It's a great
read.
Andreessen outlines how once
prominent industries are becoming software companies in order to remain
competitive. The music industry was probably the first to be uprooted and 14
years after the release of Napster it has been forever changed. In the past record companies produced and sold the music, whereas now they are content
creators for iTunes.
More examples exist elsewhere, from
Blockbuster being blown out of the water by Netflix or Kodak's market
share being eaten up by the likes of Flickr, Snapfish or Shuffterfly.
The library world is no stranger to
such shake ups as well. More and more library collection budgets are devoted to
eBooks and electronic content as users access material through the internet.
Some libraries are even rebranding themselves as Maker Spaces. But, that's another story
altogether.
Andreessen believes that overall we
are in the midst of a "broad technological and economic shift in which
software companies are poised to take over large swathes of the economy."
As a software mogul Andreessen is supremely confident and positive about the
new economic landscape – after all there is a lot of money to be made as
playing field changes.
It’s easy to throw our hands up in
the air and claim that the sky is failing. But, I can't help but wonder if
replacing people with software is always the right move? Doesn't this mean
fewer jobs and higher unemployment? By the same token if you have an idea and
the ability to write software you could change the world. What do you think? Let me know in the comments below.
One thought on “New Year, New Economy”
More than anything people need to start thinking strategically when picking a career. Not just getting a master degree in anything just to get it. That will not get you work. You will be ‘educated’, but that’s different than being employable.