On Demand

In a lot of the world that can read this, people respond to 'on demand' as a very deep concept. And in developed world modern culture this is very true - it's steeped in society, with its brownian motion magnifying over time... particles colliding, making the modern culture a very strong tea. Exponentially so. And so now, people in that world can buy things on demand. Movies by Internet. Music by Internet. Software by Internet. Pornography by Internet. Junk mail by Internet. You get the idea.

And they broadcast that they have it to the rest of the world through cable channel advertisements, the Internet and yes - even pornography. The payment system that supports that society doesn't exist or isn't attainable in the rest of the conceptual world.

Things just move faster. Drive thru pharmacies make way for drugs-to-your-doorstep, including those for pets. Music bought through an account shows up through iTunes within moments instead of that 'silly, idle time' at a music store. Block Buster was killed by the Internet stars. And so on.

If osmosis was conceptually median, this would mean that there would be a trend to homogeneity in this context - as well as others. But osmosis requires a permeable membrane. And the Internet provides this. The Internet is a permeable membrane. Popular things are downloaded. 'Copied'. 'Pirated'. 'Stolen'.

The permeable membrane remains. But there are those who don't want that permeable membrane. And the trouble with this civil war - and it is a civil war - is that it pits neighbors, friends and family against each other. Relationships are actually determined, in part, by whether one can access what is 'on demand'. Popular. Downloadable. And the question - the real question - is not whether something is illegal or immoral. The real question is which of the two cultures is sustainable.

Which culture do you think is really most in demand?