Bruce responds to last week's question by coming firmly down on the side of local communities as the primary unit of autonomy, with the proviso that individuals have the freedom to move among communities. Prabhakar concurred, and again suggested Neal Stephenson's
The Diamond Age as a useful starting point for imaging a world of tight-knit tribes ("phyles") embedded in a Common Economic Protocol to coordinate coexistence.
This led to the question of what values Bruce would want to build his Phyle around. Bruce started with a commitment to avoid orphaning users. Ernie conceded that is a noble goal, and is similar to the idea of companies
serving customers rather than
exploiting them.
That said, the real challenge is actually building something that lives long enough to even have those concerns. Perhaps next week we will find out what that might be...
References