#17: Platform Cities
Winston Churchill, paraphrasing McLuhan, said that "we shape our buildings, thereafter they shape us." If the internet is a kind of building (and I think it is) then we in the real world spent plenty of years shaping a globe-spanning network that is now taking its turn to shape us and our habitats. By opening physical bookstores, Amazon seems determined to make that point: Cities are becoming more like the internet.
I was puzzled by Amazon's decision to open a brick-and-mortar store. This account of a visit to the New York location provided some unintentional insight in its conclusion: The pressure to pay with Amazon Prime at the store is essential to its existence. Someday, perhaps, there will be lots of stores like this, all showrooms for internet platforms, and none of them will accept cash, nor will they even let you buy anything without subscribing to their Prime-like service. Amazon's infinite choice becomes an inescapable platform lock-in that spreads throughout cities themselves, and their first bookstore in New York is an outpost of that future.
Imagining that scenario clarifies for me what's valuable about cities: the freedom that accompanies their density, complexity, and anonymity. Cities are where we enjoy moments without the internet, pay with cash, go for a walk without our phones, get lost, or discover something not recommended algorithmically. Contrary to various predictions since computers emerged, the technology of instantaneous global communication is no threat to the internet. Writing about airports, Greg Lindsay coined Kasarda's Law of Connectivity: Every technology that circumvents distance electronically will increase our desire to travel it ourselves. Interacting with people (or merchandise) online will just increase your desire to do the same offline. This is encouraging—as long as we're still free to even go offline.
Reads:
Russian malware that communicates by leaving comments on Britney Spears' Instagram account.
Related to the above: more on Amazon as monopoly
I was on a podcast! David Perell has a great podcast called North Star and let me on to talk about the stuff I write about here, which was really fun.
Until next time,
Drew