Peering into the Future

by Scotland Willis

Peering into the Future is the title for my new book which I expect to be out early to mid next year.  This book is about the impact, implications and phenomena of peer-to-peer networks.

The world is an amazing place from a human perspective, it a benefit we (reasoning, abstract thinking and introspection) we experience as a result of our genetic superiority.  Technology has made this experience more amazing by allowing us to connect over vast spaces and discover things that would once have been considered impossible.

And while technology typically creates isolation and distance among people, the notion of cooperative consumption serves as a medium to help reconnect people; peer-to-peer (p2p) networks serve the same function.  As it turns out, p2p networks bring people with common interests together and familiarize individuals with like-minded people, thereby accelerating the bond and relationship process.  While p2p networks can serve as a vehicle to bring groups together, cooperative consumption serves as a similar medium, but it depends on a surplus system.  I have something that meets your needs and I have little or no use for it at the time.

Key to all of this exchange of goods or services in either system is a pivotal foundation of trust.  Trust is the one element that would force the entire system to collapse.  But with so many hundreds of millions of people engaged the level of compromised trust is not as prevalent as it could be for several reasons.

As we advance the use of the internet system, banks, business and others who depend on it as a resource for their commerce, it is critical that they themselves demonstrate to their customers that the system is trust worthy.  Despite cyber crimes costing hundreds of billions of dollars over the years, the general populations faith in the Internet continue to grow if you look at it in terms of the number of users.  And that decision is what fosters the growth of peer to peer networks.

What once was considered a barrier to human interaction is not serving as a force that brings people together for different reasons; it may be goods or services or it may be a social calling, either way, more people are being connected as the world becomes a smaller social environment.