Who's afraid of 2009?

There's a lot of doom and gloom among the financial soothsayers. Purpose-less business are being put to the sword.
My (Huntingdon, Cambs) High St Woolworths went last week. Which as far as I can think means the only place left where you could buy a cd on Huntingdon High St is WHSmiths.

And you have to fear for the likes of Smiths in the current climate. Like woolies, it lacks a purpose. For me its become a Christmas shop. I visit it once a year.
If smiths stopped selling CDs there would be no where left on the High St to sell them.

And this illustrates the reality and illusion of fear of 2009: Music is being enjoyed as much, if not more than ever. It isn't music that's at risk in a recession, it is a business model - one which packages up, stacks on racks and locks out co-creation.

The illusion is that all is at risk. The reality is that business models which don't fit the networked world are at risk. (image courtesy)

I spent New Years Eve playing Guitar Hero with friends - a glimpse of how new value gets created in a supply web (the artists get paid for their music, and the coders and game designers and interaction designers etc get paid for their contributions.

£300 of console. £175 of game and equipment. Wild guess: more than you've spent on CDs or downloads in the last year?

And way more fun.

People playing together co-creating an outcome they want. It's what multi-player gaming has always been about.

It's what the business models that need have no fear of 2009 must also be about.

Those that have purpose, those that engage with the power of the network; 2009 - and the future - welcomes them.

Those that persist with the broadcast mindset, with command and control, with centre over edge, those do face a tough 2009 - and no future.

As Christmas 2008 fades into memory, like Scrooge, while there's life, there's still time to change. May the ghosts of Woolworths and Zavvi do the trick.

Best not wait for the ghost of Christmas-Yet-To-Come to show your business to its grave.