The information technology revolution of the last 25 years is not “scale neutral.” In other words, it does not affect big and small companies equally.
In fact, this wave of technological innovation probably helps small organizations proportionately more than it does larger ones. That contrasts with earlier technological revolutions that tended to favor large-scale institutions.
Information is valuable and costly. That is as true for households and small businesses as it is for large institutions. Even so, Samuel Morse’s telegraph in the 1830s, Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone in the 1880s and Herman Hollerith’s punch-card tabulators in the 1890s were more useful to large entities than smaller ones. That advantage continued through to the Control Data and Cray mainframes that were the pride of Minnesota technology 25 years ago. IT innovations helped big institutions — businesses and government — more than small ones.
The IT revolution of the last quarter-century is doing just the opposite. Personal computers, the Internet and search engines can help individuals or small businesses as much as or more than large companies.
As a self-employed writer, my business is about as small as they come. But consider a few examples of how contemporary IT was manifest in my life recently.
I write this column from the verandah of a small resort in the Florida Keys. The place is wonderful. Run by a couple and their two employees, it has 10 units, 100 feet of bayside beach, a dock, lounge chairs, kayaks and a Wi-Fi setup.
It is a little gem among much bigger resorts in South Florida. My wife and I enjoy it. So do the other guests we’ve met. My wife found it in 45 minutes on the Internet, as did the retired insurance salesman and librarian next door and the honeymooners in Unit 5.
All were attracted by a great Web site with pictures of the exterior and interior of each room. Price and other relevant information were readily available. We knew what we were getting.
Another example: From here, I will travel to Brazil, returning for the first time in 33 years, primarily to visit friends. I had stayed in touch with some, but lost touch with two who had moved with their careers. Still, I wanted to see them again.
I tried typing the name of one into Google. It directed me to the Web site of a remote-control model aircraft club. I found Rodolfo’s dues were paid up and that he flew both airplanes and helicopters. It listed no address for him, but did for the club’s officers. Two telephone calls later I was talking to my friend for the first time since 1972.
Another friend was easy to find once I discovered Brazil’s entire telephone directory could be searched online.
Replacing a worn gear on my friend Bob’s silage feeder wagon offers a third example. The original manufacturer no longer stocks parts. The local machine shop carries roller chains, sprockets, bearings and belts, but not gears. Bob saw a time-consuming and unwieldy adaptation of a mechanism from another machine as the only alternative to junking his otherwise serviceable wagon.
But a half-hour on the Web showed us the gear was still manufactured by at least two companies. Three suppliers in Sioux Falls, S.D., could have it shipped to Bob in a few days.
The common link in all of these examples is that valuable information that would have been difficult, if not impossible, to obtain three decades ago is now cheaply and easily available at one’s fingertips.
Moreover, acquiring the information was not any harder for me than it would be for a large business. In 1975, small resorts could not afford to advertise nationally. They and prospective guests had few ways to learn about each other. Large chains could advertise and send brochures to thousands of travel agents. Mom-and-pop resorts depended on word-of-mouth references or on people simply looking for a vacancy sign.
Then, large businesses could afford teletype terminals for international communication. Now, any individual or small company can send a message to Brazil as cheaply as Cargill or 3M Co. can. And an individual can find a person or business in Brazil as easily as the largest company.
Two decades ago, a large company could consult the multi-volume Thomas Registry of Manufacturers to find sources for gears. But no public library in rural areas could even afford one. A diligent farmer might be able to find a stock part by making repeated phone calls, but the time and long-distance bills would deter most.
The ongoing IT revolution might change our world as much as steam power did, and this time, nearly anyone can get in on the action.
© 2006 Edward Lotterman
Chanarambie Consulting, Inc.