About digital transformation, design, creativity and lifestyle in the Networked Society.
In 2025’s Networked Society, the Social are empowered and have momentum in society but do not belong to a traditional labor market. They have either chosen to leave or been forced out of the traditional labor market, because of the structural changes in society, and have instead taken matters into their own hands. Accordingly, they... Continue Reading →
The Anchored are the people steadily rooted in the middle class, which was once the result of the 20th century industrialization. In 2025, they are still living in the traditional industrial economic system. While they used to be employed in the manufacturing industry and related sectors, in the 21st century they have migrated increasingly to the service... Continue Reading →
In the Networked Society of 2025, the Players are outside the economic system or have never been invited into it. They also lack the ability, skills, connections, and motivation to get back into the game, land a traditional job, or organize themselves. They do temporary jobs here and there, live off various forms of social... Continue Reading →
We are now sixteen years into the new millennium and we have had internet and a global standard for mobile telephony for a quarter of a century. The new millennium marks in many ways the transition from the age of industrialization to a new paradigm, which we call The Networked Society. Now, with some distance,... Continue Reading →
I recently read a review in the Guardian about Frank Trentmann’s 1.5 kg book “How We Became a World of Consumers, from the Fifteenth Century to the Twenty-First”, that is spot on a subject we are working hard on right now. I’ve bought an e-book version already, but – like an old-fashioned consumer – I feel a... Continue Reading →
The essence of industrialization was to automate the production of things, which in turn brought about the industrialization of people, changing work and workplaces. People went from producing their own food at the countryside to producing stuff in the factories, for the stores in the cities. And so the modern consumer was born. But times are... Continue Reading →
In my last post over the holiday season, I examined the increased usage of convenient and fast digital services and consumption experiences, and how that somewhat paradoxically also drives more analog – and often passionate – experience of crafting things physically, which is encouraged and reinforced by online communities for nearly any topic you can imagine.... Continue Reading →
Yesterday was November 11th, for many an ordinary day in an ordinary week. For example, a couple of days ago I ordered a pair of new headphones from a Swedish online store. Certainly not a purchase I make every day, but an ordinary one all the same. But yesterday, I received an ad from the... Continue Reading →
oday most business offerings consist of a product or service that a company creates and then delivers to customers. This is the traditional way – produce and deliver. The platform model is fundamentally different, serving as the technological base upon which customers, developers, businesses and their partners can build added value through increased participation. Wherever... Continue Reading →
Digitalization is happening in all areas of life and business; I guess most of you have noticed that. Physical products are either becoming digital services or are significantly enhanced with new digital service capabilities. What’s also happening right now is that business practices are becoming digitized to become faster, more relevant and more cost-efficient. An... Continue Reading →
Mikael Eriksson Björling 