By Tyson Weihs
Before the Internet exploded, software came in shrink-wrapped boxes that our IT staff or consultants would install on shiny new Compaq servers sitting in amidst a rats nest of servers and cables in the office “server closet”. If you’re Blue Cross and Blue Shield, that software probably was installed by vendors, EDS, or Accenture consultants on large IBM servers in a giant basement filled with of every make and model backup system, power supply, switch, router, database server, and operating system on the market.
The first time I walked through a Blue Cross and Blue Shield data center I saw gear that ranged from giant swing-arm tape backup arrays to the latest and greatest IBM mainframes. Hundreds of applications were running on all these servers and they were all supported by millions of dollars of other “life supporting” hardware. Something interesting I noticed was a lot of empty space. What was once filled with large banks of servers was now occupied by air. The increased presence of air, I think, is a function of some important industry and technical developments that are changing the way we consume and use software.
Instead of buying shrink-wrapped boxes of software and installing it on local servers, business users can now fire up their browser, input credit card information, and immediately obtain access to sophisticated, scalable business applications without having to buy anything else. We refer to this as “self-provisioning”. That is, a user can browse the web, find software that meets a need, buy access to it, and not have to talk to IT, buy hardware, or make go through the pain of installing and configuring. Even our operation as self-provisioned its own applications, including online data rooms, business process diagramming tools, email, and collaboration applications - all without having to install anything on our local computer networks.
Software you can buy via the web and begin using immediately through your browser is what the industry has termed “Software as a Service”, or SaaS for short. Salesforce.com, which you may have heard of, makes its sales management software available through a browser that users can pay for by the drink. It simply means you can, using a web browser, buy and use software today and pay for more capacity or users as needed.
Many software companies are making a run at delivering their software as a service. The pace at which they are doing this is increasing because the tools for building applications are improving and technical improvements are driving down the investment required to build a very scalable application. Lower development and production costs means lower barriers to entry and less required investment. Lower barriers to entry means more competitors will make a run at building substitute products that compete with software delivered the old way.
Two innovations that I think will keep driving down the costs of building and deploying software as a service applications are what are called “compute clouds” and “storage clouds”. Amazon has developed a set of each. Their compute cloud is called “Amazon EC2”, and their storage cloud is called “Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3)”. Remember that space in the data center I referred to earlier - these new services mean that software developers don’t need to buy computers to run their applications or store their data. They simply ask the cloud for more compute power or more storage space. Amazon gives you more of both at a very low cost.
With these clouds, a developer simply says “Amazon, I need two more servers”. Amazon responds with two more servers and charges you $0.10 per hour of time the server is online. Instead of needing to figure out where your next 100 gigabytes of storage will come from, the developer simply says “Amazon, I need 100 GB of storage”. Amazon gives you more storage and only charges you $0.15 per GB stored. No more thinking about what processor you need or which storage solution you should purchase.
The point of all this rambling is that the price of developing and deploying applications continues to drop; more business users are comfortable whipping out a credit card, buying access to software, and accessing that software through a web browser; the IT department is becoming less influential in the decision making process; and competitors can launch scalable alternatives to existing software with a smaller capital investment. Therefore, business application software companies need to be mindful of the cost advantages of these emerging technologies, the potential for competitors to launch quickly and efficiently with a product customers can try today, and the acceptance of web-based business software by business users. As investors, we have to be mindful of these developments, because an investment in a company building software the old way may find itself pitching against a company who’s software can be purchased today, online, and without anyone worrying about how many servers they need to buy to get it running.
Thursday, March 15
Friday, February 16
Karl Marx and the Rise of YouTube
Essay One - Celebrity as Capital
We covet only that which we can see. We covet what we see.
In one of his many publications, Karl Marx suggested that industrialization has a tendency to reduce skilled workers to a form of commodity. The more competency built into the industrial machine the less skill is required of the human. The human becomes a form of appendage to the machine. The more productive the machine becomes...the lower the wages of the human appendage.
He continues by saying that those who own these ever evolving machines amass more and more economic capital and the economic gap between them and those who service their machines (i.e. the human appendages) becomes greater and greater. It becomes increasingly difficult for the appendage to amass economic capital of his own. The machine owners then seek to build a political and social system meant to preserve the economic gap.
In the past 150 years...industrialization has resulted in more scientific and technological advancement than the sum of all previous centuries combined. Consequently the gap between the rich and the poor has arguably widened (according to Marxist theory). In addition, Western Civilization has developed a complex system of politics and set of laws meant to preserve the economic gains of those whom have amassed economic capital.
Marx would argue is that it is inevitable that the machine workers would seek to overthrow the machine owners and establish a political system of their own meant to dissolve the wide economic gap. This is theorized to happen because the machine owners require an ever-enlarging workforce that ultimately can't help (due to their conspicuous plight) but react to their collective negative economic inertia. He further suggests that this is most likely after period of overproduction resulting in depression and weakening of the parties who control the current political system.
As stated above, one could argue that currently we are more scientifically and technologically advanced than any point in the history of mankind. Our system of laws and politics are more protective than they have ever been. As a result, the hurdles to be overcome by the ever-enlarging workforce to amass traditional economic capital are higher than they have ever been. I am being repetitive. As a result.....the humans are seeking alternative forms of capital accumulation...
Impact of the Information Age
I would argue that the evolution of the information age into its "always-
on" current state has driven the humans to believe that "visibility or celebrity" in this always-on world is an enviable form of capital. WE COVET WHAT WE SEE. It may be an alternative to economic capital. A way to measure one's value.
I would further argue that a mechanism such as YouTube may be seen by the machine workers as a means to become visible and amass capital in the form of acknowledgment and potentially celebrity. The pre-exisiting economic gap between owners and workers and the attendant system of laws and politics don't stand in the "worker's" way in his attempt to amass this form of alternative capital. He perceives himself as free from the old bonds. He can pursue it with realistic hopes.
This is partly why I believe YouTube is climbed in popularity so vigorously. As a side note, it is ironic that Marx states that true economic wealth is built on the back and dreams of the workers. The investors in YouTube have done just that via the dreams of the workers who provide content for no guaranteed wages.....
*************************************************************************************
Essay Two - Pattern Recognition
Marx was a pattern recognition specialist. He observed that first there was a "feudal system" whereby lords amassed land and title. Commerce and labor was formed around a "guild" system whereby one hoped to be accepted into an apprenticeship through which a craft was developed. Those succeeding in developing their craft usually joined a "guild" - a collective of similarly skilled craftsmen. It was by this pathway that some folks could "rise above" and earn a favorable living.
As industrialization evolved some of the craftsmen came to expand their output through certain types of technology. They automated many things that were previously proprietary skills of their craft and their guild. Their co-craftsmen later became employees of these industrialists. The co-craftsmen became observers of output rather than sources. These "machine owners" then came to amass capital and displace the feudal lords. The lower working class then had a new set of masters.
Marx then goes on to observe that historically the lower working class having been put in the position of being unable to amass any economic capital will strive to overthrow the machine owners to create equity.
An analogy:
Some of the craftsmen who new about content distribution got behind something known as the Internet. It enabled distribution without reliance of the Feudal Lords. The Feudal Lords were weakened. This enabled Serfs to hone their craft without any form of apprenticeship nor participation in any guild system. Interestingly though...the Serfs were not revolting against the Feudal Lords per se as Marx may have expected nor the Machine Owners. They were trying to be discovered by the Feudal Lords thus breaking the Guild System. They want to be taken in by the Feudal Lords. Thus YouTube may be a mechanism by which to circumvent the Guild.
Investment Premise
The evolution of the information age causes us to covet many things. Remember when it seemed like everyone wanted to become a rapper...WE COVET WHAT WE SEE. The advent of social networking (Myspace, YouTube) becomes a looking glass through which to estimate what may be coveted en mass. As of today...it seems the focus of the population is to be the primary subject matter of the information flow...what is the information age going to cause the population to covet next...??
One more thing...as far as YouTube and the like...I don't believe they will provide any meaningful level of capital accumulation for those whom have latched onto them as any means for capital accumulation....as a result...the people's revolution will turn elsewhere....it always keeps running....
We covet only that which we can see. We covet what we see.
In one of his many publications, Karl Marx suggested that industrialization has a tendency to reduce skilled workers to a form of commodity. The more competency built into the industrial machine the less skill is required of the human. The human becomes a form of appendage to the machine. The more productive the machine becomes...the lower the wages of the human appendage.
He continues by saying that those who own these ever evolving machines amass more and more economic capital and the economic gap between them and those who service their machines (i.e. the human appendages) becomes greater and greater. It becomes increasingly difficult for the appendage to amass economic capital of his own. The machine owners then seek to build a political and social system meant to preserve the economic gap.
In the past 150 years...industrialization has resulted in more scientific and technological advancement than the sum of all previous centuries combined. Consequently the gap between the rich and the poor has arguably widened (according to Marxist theory). In addition, Western Civilization has developed a complex system of politics and set of laws meant to preserve the economic gains of those whom have amassed economic capital.
Marx would argue is that it is inevitable that the machine workers would seek to overthrow the machine owners and establish a political system of their own meant to dissolve the wide economic gap. This is theorized to happen because the machine owners require an ever-enlarging workforce that ultimately can't help (due to their conspicuous plight) but react to their collective negative economic inertia. He further suggests that this is most likely after period of overproduction resulting in depression and weakening of the parties who control the current political system.
As stated above, one could argue that currently we are more scientifically and technologically advanced than any point in the history of mankind. Our system of laws and politics are more protective than they have ever been. As a result, the hurdles to be overcome by the ever-enlarging workforce to amass traditional economic capital are higher than they have ever been. I am being repetitive. As a result.....the humans are seeking alternative forms of capital accumulation...
Impact of the Information Age
I would argue that the evolution of the information age into its "always-
on" current state has driven the humans to believe that "visibility or celebrity" in this always-on world is an enviable form of capital. WE COVET WHAT WE SEE. It may be an alternative to economic capital. A way to measure one's value.
I would further argue that a mechanism such as YouTube may be seen by the machine workers as a means to become visible and amass capital in the form of acknowledgment and potentially celebrity. The pre-exisiting economic gap between owners and workers and the attendant system of laws and politics don't stand in the "worker's" way in his attempt to amass this form of alternative capital. He perceives himself as free from the old bonds. He can pursue it with realistic hopes.
This is partly why I believe YouTube is climbed in popularity so vigorously. As a side note, it is ironic that Marx states that true economic wealth is built on the back and dreams of the workers. The investors in YouTube have done just that via the dreams of the workers who provide content for no guaranteed wages.....
*************************************************************************************
Essay Two - Pattern Recognition
Marx was a pattern recognition specialist. He observed that first there was a "feudal system" whereby lords amassed land and title. Commerce and labor was formed around a "guild" system whereby one hoped to be accepted into an apprenticeship through which a craft was developed. Those succeeding in developing their craft usually joined a "guild" - a collective of similarly skilled craftsmen. It was by this pathway that some folks could "rise above" and earn a favorable living.
As industrialization evolved some of the craftsmen came to expand their output through certain types of technology. They automated many things that were previously proprietary skills of their craft and their guild. Their co-craftsmen later became employees of these industrialists. The co-craftsmen became observers of output rather than sources. These "machine owners" then came to amass capital and displace the feudal lords. The lower working class then had a new set of masters.
Marx then goes on to observe that historically the lower working class having been put in the position of being unable to amass any economic capital will strive to overthrow the machine owners to create equity.
An analogy:
- Feudal Lords - TV Networks (FOX, ABC, etc.)
- Guild System - Famous Actors ("Screen Actors Guild")
- Machine Owners - Financial backers of YouTube
- Serfs - You and Me.
Some of the craftsmen who new about content distribution got behind something known as the Internet. It enabled distribution without reliance of the Feudal Lords. The Feudal Lords were weakened. This enabled Serfs to hone their craft without any form of apprenticeship nor participation in any guild system. Interestingly though...the Serfs were not revolting against the Feudal Lords per se as Marx may have expected nor the Machine Owners. They were trying to be discovered by the Feudal Lords thus breaking the Guild System. They want to be taken in by the Feudal Lords. Thus YouTube may be a mechanism by which to circumvent the Guild.
Investment Premise
The evolution of the information age causes us to covet many things. Remember when it seemed like everyone wanted to become a rapper...WE COVET WHAT WE SEE. The advent of social networking (Myspace, YouTube) becomes a looking glass through which to estimate what may be coveted en mass. As of today...it seems the focus of the population is to be the primary subject matter of the information flow...what is the information age going to cause the population to covet next...??
One more thing...as far as YouTube and the like...I don't believe they will provide any meaningful level of capital accumulation for those whom have latched onto them as any means for capital accumulation....as a result...the people's revolution will turn elsewhere....it always keeps running....
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