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Geography, borders, time zones -- all are rapidly becoming irrelevant
to the way we conduct our business and personal lives, courtesy of the communications
revolution. According to renowned Economist journalist Frances Cairncross,
this "death of distance" will be the single most important economic
force shaping all of society over the next half century. In her remarkably prophetic
new book, Cairncross provides a trendspotter's guide to thriving in the new millenium.
Friends, colleagues, and customers could easily be anywhere
-- around the corner or around the world -- and the new ways of communicating
will effectively wipe out distance as a cost factor, indeed as a perceptible concept
from our lives. Cairncross helps us to recognize the patterns and seize the opportunities
in these early days of the death of distance. She describes the ways, now only
dimly imaginable, that telecommunications and our altered perception of distance
will transform relationships between countries and citizens, companies and employees,
parents and children. Cairncross writes eloquently and
convincingly about the cataclysmic changes sweeping across communications, and
about the ways those consequences will tilt the balance between large and small,
rich and poor, as they influence where companies locate, what kind of work people
do, how governments raise revenue, which businesses succeed, how cities develop,
and more. Among the most striking trends:
- A flourishing market for citizens. Greater freedom to locate
anywhere and earn a living will hinder taxation, forcing countries to bid down
tax rates to attract high-income earners and profitable companies.
- The
strengthening of communities of culture. Electronic communications will reinforce
less widespread languages and cultures, not replace them.
- The
continuing rise of the English language. The global rise of English as a second
language will strengthen as it becomes the standard for communicating in business
and commerce.
- The emergence of a three-shift world.
Time zones will matter more than distance in determining where companies locate.
- The
growing inversion of home and office. As more people work from home or from purpose-built
small offices, the line between work and home life will blur.
- The
new irrelevance of size. Small companies will be able to offer services that once
only giants could provide.
With examples from
every corner of the globe, this book is journalism at its best: at once a sharp,
perceptive biography of the communications industry and an eye-opening look at
life after distance, for us and generations to come. Frances
Cairncross is a senior editor at The Economist. She is the author of Costing
the Earth and the winner of the first Reuter's-Alp Action media award. |
