Remember the first computer you used?
Yes, this fatso.
Well, it was about 20 inches thick and weighed around 4-5 kgs. It came with an even heavier CPU, a pair of speakers, a mouse, a keyboard, and might be a UPS as well.
Soon, the monitor got replaced by an LCD screen and we took pride in how slim our monitor was!
Then came the generation of laptops. These solved the problem of portability and occupied much lesser space than computers. We finally did away with CPUs and the problems which we faced because of a power cut.
By the end of 2015, Palmtops and tablets became household names and they could do all the work which a PC could.
The last few years witnessed the entry of smartphones. It has solved all the drawbacks of its predecessors. It has become an indispensable part of human life. I personally cannot imagine leaving my house without this Black Mirror in my pocket!
Why are we talking about this? Today, we want to introduce to you -
The Weightless Economy
How smoothly we’ve transitioned from the fatso computers to our pocket-friendly smartphones! The weight (physical weight) of output has fallen drastically as we have become more productive and efficient in our use of natural resources.
From 1980-2000, US GDP grew from $5trillion to $9trillion.
Most of this growth was in the weightless economy.
The use of optic cables and microprocessors in place of vacuum tubes and high duty copper wires in production has been a driving force behind this growth. The GDP almost doubled yet the weight of the physical output over these 2 decades remained constant (between 1.2 - 1.3 bn tonnes).
Companies with a weightless model like Netflix or Amazon Prime Videos have grown exponentially during this period as compared to other companies with a 'heavy' business model.
The biggest companies of our generation - Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Google (The FAANG stocks) are unique in their own ways. But, they have something in common - they are all technology-based businesses.
How big are these 5 companies individually?
The chart below shows the revenue and market capitalization of these 5 Big Tech companies.
The combined market capitalization of the FAANG stocks is more than $5 trillion. (Yes, that’s more than India’s GDP).
These companies don’t sell tangible products (except for Apple). They sell services.
Netflix sells entertainment.
Amazon sells the comfort of sitting at your place and getting whatever you want.
Facebook sells you the ease of connecting with your friends and family who are miles away.
Their uniqueness lies in the kind of service they provide, and the common thing is that they’re all software-based.
Weightless.
Bits taking over atoms.
These companies have also proved their worth during this crisis. When every other business was at a halt, they stood strong and withered the winds of destruction. Strong, and resilient.
Antifragile.
Companies around the world are losing ‘weight.’ And this loss in weight is indeed making the economies stronger, fitter, and more sustainable.
This is where the future lies - in artificial intelligence, in technology, in software-based ideas.
The future lies in dematerialized business models.
If you are at home, think of a way of taking your business online. Think about how you can shift it from hardware to software. Think of taking it to the future.
Because the future is here.
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Cool Stuff: An average employee consumes 10,000 sheets of paper in a year. What if we take the whole thing digital? Each one of us could save around 1.25 trees per annum (a tree produces 8,300 sheets of paper on average). Save one, if you can’t plant one? Food for thought?
Anmol not only writes great content but is also an amazing rapper! Hopefully, he'll record his rap-works and share it with us.