Freecycle

New media build on old media, as Richard Grusin and Jay David Bolter argued in their excellent book Remediation. (Many others have made the case too, but g/b/ do a great job of explaining how digital media draw-- consciously or unconsciously-- on older media.) Likewise, eBay, which itself was modeled on the ancient transactional model of the auction, is emerging as a basic model for all kinds of interesting experiments that bring together people to buy/sell, barter, trade, loan, or exchange goods. Z+ reports on a site set up to give things away, Freecycle:

The premise is ridiculously simple: you join a freecycling email listserve for your local community, to which people (yourself included) proffer the kinds of things you might otherwise take to the dump, the Goodwill, or (in you're a New Yorker) simply leave on the curb. As a member, you also get to respond to offers from other list members, which are usually claimed on a first-come/first-served basis....

There is a simple logic underlying Freecycle: the Internet is terrific making markets more efficient, and there is indeed a market for many things we would otherwise throw away. Combine the two, and you get a fantastic means of leveraging self-interest to keep stuff from going to the landfill.

One interesting thing that some of these services share is the explicit notion that the exchange is but part of the value proposition. Freecycle declares that it is "changing the world one gift at a time," while Mediachest lets you "meet new friends that like the same books, cds, dvds, and games that you like," as well as saving some money by borrowing things rather than buying them.

Comments

[Mark Federman]

Long before Remediation, Marshall McLuhan said, "The first use of a new medium is always a replay of an old one." (Said in many place throughout the body of his work from the mid-60s through the late-70s). In fact many futurists and media analysts owe their occupation and theoretical ground to the archetypal media guru.

The great work, of course, is Understanding Media. For a current take on applying McLuhan's approach to modern business, try McLuhan for Managers - New Tools for New Thinking.