Economics/Geekonomics

Geekonomics and the Spontaneity Economy

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I've been looking at the world of geekonomics and fannish economics – of video games, anime, movies, sports, and of course, online transactions.

As I write this I've been watching some things I found casually on Netflix, using our X-box (cheesy movie trailers, if you must know).  I was watching them spontaneously.  Come to think of it, I'd maintain my Netflix and X-box subscription just for these opportunities.

Or perhaps we can turn our attention to my gaming habits.  A few demos on the X-box are always amusing, and purchases are cheap.  I've enjoyed many Wii games for only a few dollars.  Best of all, things are not only easy to get but cheap.  A bad purchase is only a few dollars lost.

Very, very easy to be spontaneous.  In fact it's never been easier for so many to get so much so quickly and so easily (if I may wax poetic).

We've got an increased spontaneity economy.  I expect it to increase as well – e-books, web comics, downloadable comics, etc.  Everything is easier and easier to get to – or even try it out.

What does this mean?

  • Demographics are going to get harder.  Spontaneity can distort studies and information on purchasing populations (and it may make long tail calculations harder).
  • Questions of initial sales.  Are initial sales of a product going to be all that reflective?
  • Questions of reason for interest.  Was someone interested in a purchase or was it just easy.
  • Questions of reimbursement.  When spontaneity plays a large (or potentially large) role in the purchasing decisions of people, what is the best way to reimburse producers or share profits?
  • Questions of marketing.  How much did your marketing pay off?  How will you know.
  • Questions of durability.  How easy is retention of an audience when the new shiny things are so easily accessible?

Welcome to the spontaneity economy.

– Steven Savage

Save us all from regional ignorance

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Recently, Bonnie posted a link to an article on the rather unsettling fact that only about 60% of employable Californians are working.  Yes, that doesn't necessarily mean they're looking for work – but it's a lower percentage than previously (the peak was 65% of the population working, which doesn't sound very excting either).  What I find most intriguing as this news rockets around the internet is that a lot of posters commenting on it don't really seem to know what they're talking about – which is a valuable lesson for relocation.

As I am a person that moved to California a few years ago, I quickly became aware that California is best understood as a country because of its level of complexity.  I also became painfully aware that, when it comes to California, most people don't know what they're talking about – this is a state with a huge constitution, complex politics, interesting issues in raising taxes on the state level (think it can be done with a simple majority vote?  Wrong, it takes 2/3), a prominent place in the US and world economy, and more.  Some Californians seemed clueless, but they were nothing compared to people I'd encounter in other states who assumed that, somehow, they were experts on where I'd relocated to.

And this is why all my past advice on using your fandom contacts and good research to understand targets of relocation is important.  California is on the high end of Incredibly Complex States, but it's not the only one.

And when you assess relocation, there's often a lot of misinformation.

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