Polly Greathouse

World cultures hang in the balance of abundance and scarcity. Technology shifts a previously scarce resource into an abundant one, and imbalances are created. The dollar is colored by many nations. It swings wildly amidst the purchase and barter of abundant concerns. The dollar wields less power and buys less food as for some, more choices with less value are available and real food is hard to come by. Spam overwhelms our communication channels, and farmers are subsidized for growing corn that we cannot eat. The balance is being tipped by technology and the power rests with those who see into the future of when a resource will change from scarce to abundant: the inflection point.

A key for a comfortable future is to understand the potential of an abundant resource while it is still scarce. Illustrated here with radiating waves from the center support is the inflection point of a curve is the shock wave affecting various systems as resources and systems evolve. This is the point at which an economy of scale enhances profitability, and technology leverages mass production at low cost. Profits begin to decline while abundant products are copied and increasingly accessible to masses of people. The diagram shows a delicately balanced mobile tipped by societal challenges resulting from technological effects on resources originally considered scarce.

Bandwidth is the radiant core at this inflection point. Since transistors are in the hands of every person with a phone, the central power of switching and electrical power can be managed from a global broadcast core. Much of the opportunities and challenges for creative individual capitalism -- and hopefully comfort, balance and happiness, will be in the judicious use of the information being transmitted via narrow bandwidth to an abundance of receivers.

~Polly Greathouse