We think of traditional monopolies as being about a business having some unique advantage or forming some sort of cartel to dominate a market. While most economies have mechanisms to prevent this they equally create what I call systemic monopolies through their solutions and also by the academically simplistic view on what sets prices of products and services in a capitalist system.

I believe Systemic Monopolies tend to exist where there are only a few key players and many very small players (the residual having near zero influence). They also exist where it seems they have competition but when you look at barriers consumers face to buying products from their competitors they are actually in a situational or localised monopoly.

So what are some examples and what trait(s) lead to the effect of a monopoly even though in the strict sense of the definition there isn’t one. Let’s call them Systemic Monopolies:

Mega Shopping Centres

Suburban locations can’t usually support multiple large shopping centers for consumers to choose between. You can only have one large Westfield or Centro shopping center as an example. Accordingly you get a localized monopoly situation where the time and financial cost of travel introduces a barrier sufficient to cause only shopping at one major location or center to be viable. As you get lower down the socioeconomic curve this barrier gets even larger on a relative basis.

Local councils enhance this effect, possibly not intentionally, by dis-allowing the development of alternatives due to their ability to deny projects and business ideas on the grounds of ensuring local economic stability. An example might be disallowing approval to build too many child care centres in a suburb.

Banks

Pre-agreed or regulated transfer pricing fees between banks exist to compensate banks when customers use services such as ATM’s that belong to the other bank. When you use another banks ATM, your bank gets charged a fee. They then charge you. The result is the system tends toward a price equilibrium for the product. Quite standard ATM fees in this case. So the effect is you have no choice, just one choice in fact, "the fee system". Each banks prices tend to replicate each other over time or the differences are so small that the cost of changing bank doesn’t allow for any choice or opportunistic consumer behavior around price.

There is also tendency for new bank entrants not to compete on price because equity markets will punish their stock price accordingly. This syndrome is about conformity to peer group pricing levels. Not in a cartel manner, but more in a "I don’t dare to be different" kind of way. Much like how a school girl won’t wear anything to different to her friends at a party. Consistent bank pricing and product behavior relative to their competitors equates to a stable stock price. As a bank you are encouraged by the market not to compete aggressively on price.

None of this is good for consumers

I think the systems of government, regulation and markets cause these Systemic Monopolies to occur. Governments at all levels need to pull themselves out of the monopoly dark ages and look more closely at Systemic Monopoly situations and attempt to prevent them. Councils should reinvigorate the "High Street" shopping strip, farmers markets and other choices to compete with the Westfields, AMP’s and Centro’s of the world.

There just doesn’t seem to be enough choice in some situations.

Photo: NatalieMaynor

Life looks like a big content opportunity or a chance to have a say on the very obscure but mildly intriguing (that probably will be of zero interest to anyone non-geek). Unless (a) you make a fool of yourself or (b) you said something cutting edge, controversial or offensive in which case you hit a retweet gold mine.

Writing a blog post has become a chore and an anomaly amongst a plethora of tweets which we all know is “time saving blogging” or otherwise know as 160 character rants.

Facebook feels childish now and a “zombie chomp” from a friend is just damn irritating. How about you send me a frigging beer instead!

You start referring to Facebook as FB. If so it’s time to stop using Facebook.

The word SEO stops meaning opportunity and instead references all those people trying to infiltrate your LinkedIn and Twitter networks.

When every pixel of white space means something special to you in the sense of design, screen real estate or most commonly an IE6 wireframe implementation headache.

You stop opening PPT funny files sent to you from friends because generally there is an “I’m not evil please send me to all your friends and create good karma” message on the last slide. OR, when received from a fellow geek your anti-rick-roll defenses kick in.

You don’t pay for virus software because you know that while AVG exists it’s like dropping a $50 notes through the grill of a street drain.

You wonder how banks and telco companies with so much IT muscle can build such bad websites.

You stop trying to fix problems with large companies and instead adopt a cancel service and move on approach.

You know the font on a document just by looking at it from 100ft away.

You know what would be a better font choice for that same document.

You also know that font will look crap on a PC when compared to an Apple.

You know PC could do better and can’t understand why PC doesn’t fight back with some “[long pause] Hi I’m Apple [long pause] I’m a bit slooooow” adverts.

You think gradient shades of blue or grey in Web2.0 websites are pretty but will undoubtedly date at some point.

You catch the train/bus to work so you can tweet and read blogs instead of lame bumper stickers and lower your carbon footprint.

You get a call at least once a week from a non-geek relative asking you to fix their circa windows98 PC and being a true geek you are happy to help despite telling them every Christmas to switch to Mac next time as PC’s are really best left to the geeks who need power and like to get under the hood.

You write a blog post about being a Geek and close it with…KTHXBAI

1. Gaming = Followers / Following
2. Snub = Following / Followers
3. Newbie Status = o_0
4. Groupie Ratio = Ave # followers of those you follow / Ave # followers of your followers
5. Bankwagon Status = joined Twitter more recently that Ashley Kutcher and Oprah Winfrey

QUEST on KQED Public Media.

• Superb video depicting the evolution of earth collapsed into 1 minute.
• Upload and explore data with Swivel.
• The credit crisis visualised. While technically it’s not accurate the idea and execution is fantastic.
• Great read by Jason Calacanis on What to do if your startup is about to fail.

The key point is “device”. If all my on-demand web based video content were available through HDTV and it had a keyboard and internet access then I’d be happy to switch to the plasma TV from my laptop. The TV is just too restricted in it’s content control and in a user experience sense despite me having disk/dvd/cable content recall at my finger tips. I feel it has a chasm to cross while the internet is only as short “device” leap away from winning the battle. It would remove my need for any Cable or Commercial TV access.

What I Watch

ABC’s iView
This is world class TV on demand produced by Australian’s own ABC network. Being with iiNet as my ISP it’s also completely free bandwidth usage. iiNet have high quality customer support for the record.

TED
TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out in 1984 as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader as it provides a wider content set and provides video’s online through it’s website for free. A customer of Saasu’s, Stephen Collins from Acid Labs, is also passionate about this video content source and he actually got the honor of an invite to TED and went recently to the 2009 event.

Stilgherrian Live
Stil Gherrian’s regular chat show and the odd road trip or special broadcasting via ustream.tv. Covers news, journalism, politics and technology. I have suffered a bit of a laughing fit disease reading the chat streams and watching the video I have to say. The whole audience participation through conversation direction is where I see my consumer attention heading in the future. It simply adds a richness through consumer participation that TV will struggle to compete against if it’s best effort are those stupid red and yellow buttons on your cable remote control.

iJump TV
iJump is about how marketers and communicators are using social media to connect with their customers and audiences. This is what I call Reality Net. Reality TV is scripted, while Reality Net tends to be very adhoc and ultra-candid. Simon Young is a bit of a mad young thing so the interviews are very engaging because the perspective you get just isn’t something you would get in a TV style interview process.

Joost
A way to watch videos – music, TV and movies over the Internet. It’s a video and channel approach. Think of it as a hybrid YouTube/CableTV offering that is free.

Vimeo
Uploaded and shared videos that I find it easier to get higher quality content from than traditional YouTube and Google Video type channels.

Photo: Aaron Escobar

Sub orbital flight around earth

When catching a plane at altitude turn you head to be horizontal and pretend you are in a context of looking at earth from space. It feels like you are looking at our planet not out of a plane. Photo:marclehmann

Losing your self importance - we are all just ants

Looking down from tall building, planes and mountains is a chance to change your perspective from the day to day macro perspective up to micro. The god like view of things. Photo:kelpenhagen

I’m a fish!

Get you underwater goggles and hop in a pool. Lay on the bottom of the pool. Look up and see the plane of water and sky above. Works best on sunny day and if you can hold you breath reasonably well. Photo:wili_hybrid

Very little visual information

This creates intrigue, assumption and a bunch of other feelings caused by your brain filling in the missing gaps. This shot is taken of my daughter and her friend through the slats of a chair. Photo:marclehmann

Bugs eye view

Get yourself (or your camera) on the ground looking up through the layers of jungle toward the canopy and sky above. Photo:marclehmann

The Blade Runner cityscape

I like this type of photo of Tokyo super city. It gives a feeling of future, excitement, life. Photo:masochismtango

Aura’s

HDR Photography techniques give back an auro to scenes which often the brain or the eye sees but which the camera just can’t capture. The colour intensity gives the world an aura. Photo:_neona_

1. Teens don’t want mum and dad to see their chat. Tracking = bad idea. No, very, very bad idea.
2. Their personal brand is already promoted on Myspace and Facebook through status updates (also with photo content). Why risk leaving this party for one with less people who are also a lot older. Platform loyalty is strong.
3. It’s not an SMS killer when it comes to communicating with their friends…yet. They tend to SMS in less than 50 characters in chatspeak (textese) and it is more efficient arguably.
4. Voice is important to teens, more so than adults. In gaming, calls and self expressed conversation.
5. Teens want certain people (or groups) to know certain bits of info, but not everyone. “Careful or Joe will find out about the party and turn up”.
6. Immediacy is really important to teens. Arguably Twitter is immediate, but to send it is. Is everyone listening. Generally a mobile SMS gets attention instantly from another teen on the receiving end of a message
7. Like news sites, forums and social networks in general. A demographic can get in there and through the content they generate it will cause a disinterest barrier to the other demographics. The barrier being “I’m different to these guys and that’s bad”.

What will change their minds…eventually

1. It ain’t cool yet. Teens are cool hunters.
2. One to many communication. Update lots of friends at once.
3. Bragging - very easy on twitter, you just need to be subtle.
4. The social tools they love are causing a convergence between “status updates” and “posting Tweets”
5. Visual identity of avatars and photo’s are important to teens so the richness of Twitter over SMS gives it an advantage.
6. Teens solve for easy. Laziness is well catered for when you can update all your friends on an event through twitter and get 2nd and 3rd degree promotion.
7. As Teens grow up their older work/social contacts will influence them onto it.
8. They don’t mind forums so Twitter could be an easy move once they understand it.
9. Brands they love are moving into spaces like twitter and draw cards will pull more and more teen consumers across.
10. When Twitter is cool (in their demographic) it will take off with them. Teens being cool hunters are now more likely to adopt Twitter because twitter now hangs out at the Facebook party.

I used a de-focus feature to blur the top and bottom of this photo I took in Tokyo. You can see the miniaturization effect. Even though it’s not great quality you can get the idea that defocusing the fore and back ground areas around your subject makes it feel miniature. In many cases the top and bottom thirds of the shot is all that you need to de-focus in a gradient manner.

Essentially your brain thinks it’s a macro/miniature photo because there isn’t any depth of field in the photo. Brain Trickery at it’s best.

The Wikipedia page on tilt-shift has a good detailed explanation.