It shifts control of time, depth of information and source to empower the user. And it is open. Anyone can come in taking its knowledge and offering skills. Financial centers are described on a satellite connection, not geographic coordinates or proximity to other financial talent centers. Work takes a different form in time and space with e-mail, video conferencing and the Internet, all of which is available at a price for the single user at his own site.
Location becomes irrelevant.
It is impossible today to gauge what it will ultimately do for investment practice, but a few hours spent browsing worldwide web sites for financial information is all that is required to become convinced that we are not going back to our old ways. A long time ago, I stated that the investment practice of the future would be a small group of people and one big machine. But I was wrong. With today's tools and insights, the notion of one global person with access to many machines is achievable.