We're pretty far away from clear and fast voice and video communications over the Internet. We need better technology for businesses and consumers to communicate, and we need much faster networks than we have in most homes. We also are about a generation away as far as mobile technology goes, but I expect mobile technology to have a big impact as the next generation will have much wider bandwidth. The other obstacle is more sociological. The first step, which we're currently in the midst of, is consolidation.
Companies can still grow by buying others to gain a larger portfolio of brands.
The next phase will be experimental. The final phase will be more of a transition, where companies actually change their entire business models to make their customers the focus - not their brands, products or geographies. We noticed this a couple of years ago when we were doing research into apparel usage and we were struck by how universal this polarisation is. This poses a problem because most retail businesses market to the middle. Sears, for example, has Wal-Mart below it and Saks Fifth Avenue above it.