Youtube, Flickr, Skype and Craigslist are examples of companies that grew extremely fast with very few employees. Their businesses are constructed almost entirely out of software code. These companies also become more valuable (also to the users) as more and more people use them - a phenomenon called 'the network effect'. Such companies benefit from user-generated content - gifts of time and ideas by their huge number of users. Many of these sites were acquired by larger companies for millions, and even billions, of dollars.
The arrival of the universal computing grid might concentrate wealth in the hands of a small number of individuals, rather than a small number of companies. In the Youtube economy, everyone is free to play but only a few reap the rewards.
The Big Switch: Our New Digital Destiny By Nicholas Carr
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