[p2p-research] thinking about leapfrogging

[M. Fioretti]

On Thu, Oct 02, 2008 01:10:14 AM -0500, Kevin Carson wrote:
> On 10/1/08, Michel Bauwens <michelsub2004 at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> > It appears that leapfrogging, a direct leap to a new technological
> > level, hardly ever works...
> 
> The problem with your argument is that history may not be a reliable
> guide.  What you say is true, so long as centralized infrastructure
> and large-scale, capital-intensive, corporate-owned industry remain
> viable and accessible.

Kevin,

but what if centralized infrastructures and large scale production
(not necessarily in the same form as today, of course, that's another
issue) intrinsically **were** the best scale to create hi-tech
necessary goods or maintain large necessary networks? Cfr:

http://p2pfoundation.net/Thoughts_on_P2P_production_and_deployment_of_physical_objects

> But leapfrogging to decentralized, ephemeral systems may be the only
> viable option... And the "small is beautiful" stuff may be all
> that's left.

the problem is how much in _real_ quality of life we'd lose by
resorting only to such systems.

> I expect that we're in the early stages of a number of dovetailing
> crises that will render the old kind of large-scale, industrial
> capitalism unsustainable

agreed, but is that enough to be sure that we don't need anything
"large-scale" anymore, in any field?

Marco
-- 
Your own civil rights and the quality of your life heavily depend on how
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