@Guido Oswald I don’t think that the Pearls can be forced or predicted individually, but action can be taken to make them more likely. The more participation you have going on the more opportunity there is for the Pearls to serendipitously form. The more Droplets, Readers and Distributors you have engaged the higher the chances of Pearls being created.

Just like the value measurement being the aggregate of grains of sand rather than big boulders, the value creation is probabilistic rather than deterministic.

It’s the collective value of those tiny parts that was evident at a great afternoon event at FASTforward ‘07 — and the significance of the ’shift’ in market economics (well, at least in the understanding of it — the economics were always there). In the past, Disney was reported to have gone to lengths to protect their intellectual property by even suing a daycare for having unlicensed Disney characters painted on the walls. At the ‘07 event, it was clear Disney understood the value of ‘free’ — letting it go only increases the value.

At FASTforward ‘08 one of the banners in the hall boldly stated, “Intellectual Property has the shelf life of a Banana” (http://www.fastforwardblog.com/2008/02/23/my-favorite-sign-from-fastforward/). As was clearly suggested by JP Rangaswami (http://www.fastforwardblog.com/2008/02/20/jp-rangaswami-british-telcom-discusses-the-new-polarization/) in a panel discussion, the cost of pursuing IP infringement is now generally greater than any resulting gains. Not only that but by the legislation process is typically longer than the complete lifecycle of any IP value.

Disney expressed serious attention to the value of ‘distributors’ and the need for brands to embrace and facilitate this new economy of brokers (as Amazon clearly leverages, pgph 5 http://www.fastforwardblog.com/2008/02/18/advertising-relic-of-inefficiency/) . In a brief presentation the Disney rep talked about their consideration of the different roles of those who participate as: floaters, swimmers and divers.

Should spammers also get a mention or are these identified as Droplets i.e. those entities out to make a quick buck out of any new technology. They are usually clever in their approach and are often at the cutting edge of what is possible. They often bombard the medium with messages- subtle and not so subtle - which can sometimes be Read, Distributed and Polished, by others.

There’s also an interesting process where a concept becomes second, third..fiftieth hand and all conceptual development has been wrung out of it. I read earnest blog posts like that a lot, the overworked stone…