2009: The Beginning of the end and Beginning of the beginning

A new beginning

Introduction

This article is an entry in the Group Writing Project: 2009 in Review on Daniel Scocco’s blog, Daily Blogging Tips.

The year 2009 is an interesting and significant year. Factors, such as the credit crunch, the fears of climate change, war, increasing unemployment make depressing reading. So I stop reading – the news that is.

But 2009 is the year of changing attitudes. I sense that a lot of people’s attitudes are changing. They’re more pragmatic. They’re more realistic. They’re more cautious, yet they’re also more ready to work for the future.

The crisis has affected all my three children. My son’s company folded and he’s now freelancing. Ironically he now gets paid more and works less hours. My older daughter, a freelance editor, lost her main client and after a shaky few months has reinvented herself managing email newsletter and writing web content. And yesterday I moved my younger daughter to start a new life in the lovely city of Bristol.

All have new attitudes and with a quiet determination to survive and to succeed. A little tougher. More ready to accept hardship to achieve their goals. More sceptical. Different. The game has changed. Their world has changed. And they are a few of thousands, millions, tens of millions, billions? Not only has their world changed, but so has ours.

This year, 2009, is the beginning of a significant change. A gradual change. A seismic change. The beginning of the beginning. For some it will be bad and for others positive.

Death of corporation

The Beginning of the Beginning of the End

It was investment banking, in their casino games, that brought the financial system crashing down. Yet in the UK the management of a bank, that had to be rescued by the taxpayer, are fighting to retain their outrageous bonuses. The public and political backlash is not surprising. The beginning of the process to end their games has started.

News Corporation, an aggressive newspaper and TV conglomerate, wants to charge for their online content.  They also want Google to stop providing access to their material.  They clearly don’t understand the web.  Not only will their news services decline, but their satellite TV networks will lose out to broadband.  The beginning of the end of the corporation has begun.

And Microsoft?  What was Vista?  A half developed Windows 7? Or a way to relieve a few million of us suckers of a few, quite a few dollars, pounds or euros.  I, and quite a few others, will never, ever pay for another Microsoft upgrade.  I’m now sold on open source.  The exploited will not be so exploited in the future.  The beginning of the long, drawn out end of exploitative corporation has now begun.

The first new track

The Beginning of the Beginning

The beginning of the beginning is already happening.  The internet is forcing change.  The recession is forcing change.  The links are making changes.  Politicians and business can no longer get away with things as bloggers blog and networks build groupings that can really apply pressure and press the press to publish.

Millions are now working from home and even the bigger corporations are looking to allow some of their employees to work at home, alone.  The pressure to reduce their carbon footprint will increase this trend.

Open Source will erode the overpriced software and operating market.  The highly priced entertainment and music download sites will be forced to reduce their prices as more people, independently, are producing their own material.  New ideas are emerging, the use of Sykpe has led to conferences and one to one tuition.  With Youtube you can produce a lecture.  Small beginnings which will lead to the unexpected, new careers, new products competing with the present day business monsters.

Conclusion

The cycle continues.  The importance of many businesses of today will reduce as the competition from the smaller, more innovative individuals and back room firms prosper.  the beginning of the end.

The job market will change and more and more people will work from home as freelancers and as employees.   New ways of living, of co-operating will emerge prompted by the recession, the aware of climate change and more important by personal choice.  The beginning of the beginning.