It is the power of the network that is creating a huge competitive situation for all products. It rises exponentially with market share. For products establishing a platform or standard, the network effect is even more pronounced. Infomediaries are replacing intermediaries. Traditional distributors are seriously threatened by a networked economy.
Information is easier to customize than hard goods.
The information portion of any good or service is becoming a larger part of its total value. The gap between desire and purchase has closed. Shelf space on the World Wide Web is unlike any other in that it has no bounds. The impulse to buy and the purchase itself used to be separated by a combination of physical and mental barriers. No longer is this so.