I Have A Dream...

I have a dream... where the world finally abolishes money as a 'necessity' for life.

After World War One it was demonstrated by Germany that producing large amounts of currency without the product to back that currency up would devalue the money itself.

I realized in 2004, when introduced to the WeedShare (We'd Share? As in 'We Would Share'?) licensing system, that it might be possible to reverse the situation. Digital media represents an infinite supply of virtual products.

The Weedshare distribution system was a good start. Not only did it create the foundation for this infinite supply, it also allowed for the wealth it generated to be redistributed on a large scale to those participating in the creation and distribution of these products.

Instead of the Apple distribution model, which operates on the principle of Simultaneity (where production and consumption occur at the same time), the Weedshare model gave birth to a new kind of valued product creation. A song purchased from iTunes is an end product. It carries no additional value. A song purchased through the Weedshare system carried an additional unlimited potential value, making it a permanent addition to the product economy instead of an instant consumable.

Tomorrow Apple introduces the iPhone. It would be possible to build this kind of distribution model on this generation of hardware. You could make it operate at the click of a simple 'buy' button on a touch screen, whether you find the file while surfing online or while surfing distribution networks that spontaneously arise when in proximity to another device (As in the Microsoft Zune). The entire process can remain completely anonymous, no personal identities ever needing to be exchanged.

For an independent artist, simply having one of these devices in your pocket means a supply of income. You can carry around your own virtual store in your pocket, the only limit to the number of customers you can serve being the bandwidth of your personal device.

However, after reading through this latest patent by Microsoft, I've come to realize that there's no interest in the means for abolishing money's absolute value from the people in real power. (IE: Apple, Microsoft and Google.) They enjoy holding the reins too much and will not relinquish them without a fight.