Monday, December 12, 2011

Beyond The Information Age

"When was the last time a company went public in the U.S. that actually manufactured a good? When was the last time a "hot" company went public selling a service that had nothing to do with marketing and that actually performed a valuable function?" -- Quote from post at Of Two Minds


About 25 years ago, I was having lunch with Joe -- a long time friend. As a long time student and investor in the stock markets, his comments of that day have not been forgotten.

Paraphrasing Joe's comments: It can't be a good thing for an economy when the US industry stops manufacturing a tangible product. Raw materials were exported to other countries to make a physical product which was imported to sell to the US consumer. The new product for US industry was the creation and selling of information. Not a product with a function.

That interchange 25 years ago was recalled as I read today's post at Of Two Minds where now the product to be sold is "social media." That is essentially nothing. Not a physical product. Not even information.

1 comment:

  1. Spoken like a true Midwestern industrial atavist. I know the type.

    ReplyDelete

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