Glenn Reynolds wrote an article for TechCentralStation that is about the differences between large and small organizations in the current environment, and what that might mean in the future.

One of the statements he made struck me: "Targeting an industry made up of many small companies is likely to be much harder."

We already know this to be true - see the firearms industry. In particular, see what happened to Smith & Wesson when they attempted to cut a deal with the gun-grabbers; they were immediately (and effectively) boycotted by the individual consumer. They were small enough that they had to listen to their consumer base.

The National Rifle Association is often called the "gun manufacturers lobby". They are not - they are the firearm consumers' lobby. The firearms industry hearkens back to the age of craftsmanship - at least when selling to the individual. Firearms are not a commodity, after all, to the individual (though they are to a government). And that is where other markets are going.

Many items once thought of as commodities are being transformed to "luxury goods". When I say this, I don't mean that they are only available to the rich - far from it. What I do mean is that the customizability that was once not available to mass-market goods (Henry Ford's Dictum: "Any color, as long as it's black") is now available, or will be available soon with the customizability that was once only available when you bought bespoke. Anything whose interface with the user is driven by software is already there - see the popularity of "skinnable" programs, and programs that will "skin" windows. See the popularity of cellular phone personalization options. Now, not only can your phone ring differently, programmed by you not the manufacturer, but when someone calls you, they hear what you have chosen for them to hear - from the Imperial March to the latest hit song. Right now, you can't set a ringback tone per caller, but I expect this to change soon.

The market is becoming segmented. It doesn't matter which market, either. Oh, there will always be a place for the monolithic basic service provider - the utility company model. But areas where vertical integration was the norm, will be broken up into content provider and transport provider. There may be a third layer of content aggregator as well. To pick a timely example: what if Joss Whedon decides not to pitch his next show to Fox, but rather, to Apple. $1.99 an episode, available on ITMS, or $29.99 for a season - paid in advance. Universal seems to be getting a handle on this, with their rapid release of the new Battlestar Galactica episodes on DVD. No doubt the massive availability of the shows on Peer to Peer networks forced their hands, but the reaction of "it's already out there, we may as well try and get the people who will spend money on it" is a welcome change of pace from the companies who believe that all their customers are pirates.

The future is near-infinite customizability to the point of bespoke goods available to all, and the disaggregation of content from provider. And it's almost here.