Who gets to educate who? the switch between the big corporations and the end user

In the WEconomy, consumers change the rules of the game and become those who educate the large conglomerates  (10.6.2014)

In a discussion I had lately it suddenly occurred to me that in the WEconomy (collaborative economy) it is not the corporations which are the educators (i.e. the ones who through commercials and market education teach us, the consumers, what is best, what to buy and how to act), but it is us - the crowd (and the individuals), who educate the old industry players and introduce new realities. As an example I used airbnb, a platform that revolutionized the hospitality industry and taught the industry giants a thing or two.

But there's a more recent and inspiring example which comes to mind. Mink, a sub-$300 3D printer that prints custom makeup pigments on demand was recently introduced and made a tremendous buzz for itself and its inventor, Grace Choi, who told Techcrunch that she wants to take out the middleman markups served to consumers by high-end cosmetic companies. To create makeup using Mink, you simply use a color picker to pick a shade you'd like to recreate (even from a photo of your favorite super-model or friend), click print and within a few minutes a real life beauty product comes out. In the demonstration Choi created an eyeshadow, but lipsticks, creams, and other items can also be easily made (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBZHFUQiP8Q). I have no doubt this empowerment of users will disrupt this immense industry (~$50B yearly in the US alone).

All of this would not happen without the existence of WEconomic platforms, having the power to disrupt industries or even change the world. Not too many years ago, in an internet-free environment, which multi-billion dollar cosmetic brand would even notice Mink? Note that Grace has nothing but an idea and a prototype (no funds, no marketing or sales channels) while the giants who dominate the cosmetics industry have it all. But with today's platforms, the crowd and the individual have such potential powers, it's almost unbelievable. Today, with Grace’s demo getting over 270K Youtube views, and her ability to both leverage this buzz and quickly raise (crowd) funding and get the attention of early adopters through social networks, changing this industry seems more viable and feasible than ever before.

Thanks to such WEconomic platforms which empower the individual and enable him or her to get to the attention of the crowds and empower the crowd to act as one, there are an ever growing number of opportunities to disrupt and change, tap in and revolutionize. And what's more, this unique and unprecedented phenomenon is fast, merciless and effective. So the balance of the real industry power is slowly but surely shifting from the large and dominant corporations into the hands of individuals and crowds, and the importance of funding and resources becomes secondary to the importance of both gaining trust and getting access to the masses.

And all those sated corporate executives may wake up one day and find that their industry has changed beyond imagination, as they were beaten, not by their competition, but by their users. End of lesson.