Mount Royal University Centennial

Ideas — Chris Anderson

Wired’s editor-in-chief Chris Anderson is coming to Mount Royal University to talk about some revolutionary ideas.

Instead of focusing on the cutting-edge theories of his books The Long Tail or Free, he’ll be talking about the next industrial revolution where he believes atoms are the new bits.

What does that mean? Well you can learn more by reading Anderson’s January 2010 Wired article or wait until next year for his next book, but in a nutshell Anderson talks about an industrial power shift and how, thanks to “open-access factories” in China, just about anyone has access to prototype and/or build their big idea.

“Over the past few years, Chinese manufacturers have evolved to handle small orders more efficiently. This means that one-person enterprises can get things made in a factory the way only big companies could before,” writes Anderson in his article.

He compares this industrial change to what has happened online.

He writes: “Here’s the history of two decades in one sentence: If the past 10 years have been about discovering post-institutional social models on the web, then the next 10 years will be about applying them to the real world.”

Manufacturing for all

During a phone interview, he explains it further: “It is the liberation of manufacturing. We are seeing the same entrepreneurial vigor we saw on the web.”

Anderson is excited about all the possibilities this revolution can bring.

“This expands and opens up the range of people who can start a business and turn ideas into something,” he says. “It can play out in every industry, food, furniture, bikes … you name it.”

When Anderson is asked what the downside of this new frontier is, he has some questions of his own: “Is there a down side? Does there have to be? I don’t think that way.”

But of course, there are people who don’t share Anderson’s enthusiasm for change, or at least this change.

A comment posted by AlexandraLR below Anderson’s Wired article reads: “As I see it, the “new industrial revolution” will mean the end of the middle class and corporate creativity.”

Anderson admits: “I don’t see it myself but some people see China and using Chinese supply chains as very scary.”

Going for bold

Controversy certainly is not new to Anderson. He was challenged after writing both The Long Tail and Free.

“Ideas are always controversial if they are sufficiently bold,” he says. “If it weren’t controversial to some degree, it is not worth considering.”

In fact, he uses the demanding discussions to help write better books. He starts with an article in Wired and then while doing talks like the one here on campus, he is further inspired by the conversations he has on the subject.

“I court a little debate because then I know I’ve pushed an idea far enough.”

The book based on In the Next Industrial Revolution, Atoms Are the New Bits is expected to be released next year.

His confidence must also get a boost by knowing that his once controversial ideas about business giving things away for free to make money, in Free and the rise of niche markets/products in The Long Tail, are now more widely accepted.

“Free is what we do every day …. It is obvious now.”

Anderson’s talk Jan. 27 is part of Mount Royal’s Legacy of Ideas, a speakers series to celebrate Mount Royal’s centennial.

— Anika Van Wyk, Jan. 20, 2011