[EM] Primary network effects and national dialogue

[Michael Allan]

Hi Alex,

> It can never be about "eliminating the network effect".  The network
> effect in itself is one fundamental evolutionary principle.  You
> cannot circumvent it, you can only try to work WITH it.

Public telephone networks are the classic example.  Bell's network
dominated for roughly a century in North America because it had more
subscribers and therefore more people to call.  Small carriers could
not get subscribers.  That's the network effect.

Today, the subscribers of small carriers in North America can call
exactly the same number of people as Bell subscribers.  The network
effect that favoured Bell vs. the smaller carriers has been
eliminated.  So it's clearly possible to do that.

Mike


Alexander Praetorius said:
> I have one objection so to say.
> 
> It can never be about "eliminating the network effect".
> The network effect in itself is one fundamental evolutionary principle.
> You cannot circumvent it, you can only try to work WITH it.
> 
> People have to orient themselves somehow and it doesnt matter in what way
> they do this.
> It might be through following people, following ideas, following
> principles, following beliefs, whatever...
> Once they do that, and they always do in any given point in time there is
> some guiding or governing "things", it can be abused.
> 
> So if people follow a person, that person can abuse it. If they follow
> money, whoever controls money could abuse it. If they follow a product
> (e.g. a software), the developers could abuse it...
> 
> All people might realize they are being abused, but how should they alter
> their behavior? In lack of consensus or the opportunity to sync their
> behavior, its not an easy task to agree upon THE solution which everyone
> might use as an alternative.
> And beside that, this alternative solution, even if people COULD agree to
> use the alternative (which might take huge efforts) could then again start
> to abuse people....
> 
> So its a NON TRIVIAL PROBLEM :-)
> 
> The only thing people can hope for is to choose an alternative which will
> not abuse them or might make it more difficult to do so.
> 
> So i think, what is needed is to create a very good alternative, which
> people start to use, because its better than all the other alternatives,
> thus it creates traction. Now eventually enough people join and the network
> effect starts to build up, so in order to end the negative effects, meaning
> the potential for abuse through those people which "created the new
> solution" is, to make sure, that everyone else can join in and can
> collaborate and change whats there. Its the open source principle, but with
> the twist, that "a fork" does not really fork in a sense that the current
> version and the forked one loose compatibility, but following certain
> principles, the compatibility is not broken.
> 
> I think what it needs is open standards, but not only for data to be
> interchanged or for protocols to be open, but also open standards (maybe
> initially created by core developers, but later on agreed upon through all
> the users) about HOW to set up "vote mirroring", not only for votes but for
> every imaginable aspect of the system.
> 
> Thus, where NO shared underlying standard for stuff exists, there should be
> at least a good method of how people can MAP their approach to another
> approach, so that their systems can communicate and eventually a standard
> will evolve.
> 
> This mindset is the principle for which we would in fact really like to
> have a NETWORK EFFECT :-) ...please everyone join in to the common cause
> ;-) this mindset is something i personally would very much like to have a
> very strong network effect in, so that other mindsets, which are exclusive,
> cannot "survive" so to speak ;-)
> 
> -- 
> 
> Best Regards / Mit freundlichen Grüßen
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