Economy/Internet: The New Technological Revolution

We are witness of a new technological revolution: The mobilizing of the Internet. There is a flood of new mobil devices for accessing the World Wide Web. Last week Apple introduced the iPhone 5, which got ravish reviews in the media and had a furious start in the shops. The week before Amazon.com announced a whole new family of tablet computers and e-book-readers starting with a price tag of $69. The growing number of competitors, including Samsung, Microsoft and Google, will soon follow with similar devices, say the experts.

In China already more people access the web on mobile phones than PCs, North America and Europe are not far behind in making that digital switchover, writes the Financial Times (ft.com). This mobil revolution will significantly expand the number of Internet users because it reaches people who don`t have the need and the money for a traditional PC.

The quick access to the Internet wherever you go will induce people to use the web much more often, longer and more intensely. The emergence of an ubiquitous internet could change the behavior of companies and consumers and boost the global economy.

If you have a sudden appetite for a pizza, a quick internet search could show you the closest places, maybe their menus, prices, even customer reviews.  Mobil Internet also could guide you to the next Starbucks cafe, the next vegetarian eatery, the next pharmacy. It could help you to find hotels, electronic shops, fashion boutiques and more. If you want to be entertained, you could detect the closest cinema theaters and the movies they show, you could find rock venues, bars and more.

The omnipresent internet therefore can help you to organize shopping, leisure time, eating out and more. This could save you a lot of time (the most valuable asset of your life). It also reduces the cost of acquiring information, the so-called information costs, significantly and could show you opportunities you want have found otherwise.

The falling information costs will create more markets and expand existing ones.  Restaurants, shops, movie theaters and a lot of other companies will gain more customers because they can be more easily found and can advertise better for their products. Applications and recommendations from friends or unknown reviewers on Amazon.com, Facebook and other website can gain interest for many products & companies which would have stayed unknown without this help.

Therefore the mobilization of the Internet induces efficiency & productivity gains (saved time, reduced costs) and expand & create markets. Both should boost globally many incomes and animate the whole world economy in the coming years.


Disclosure: I am an investor in Apple & Amazon.com