Please, Google the following definition:
Code refactoring
- Refactoring. …is a disciplined technique for restructuring an existing body of code, altering its internal structure without changing its external behavior. Its heart is a series of small behavior preserving transformations.
Basically it means changing the inner workings so that the outer workings stay the same.
If we now search for the definition of Western capitalism, we get As Psychology Today states in one of its posts:
Western capitalism is structurally reliant on growth for its stability. When growth falters – as it has done recently – politicians panic. Businesses struggle to survive. People lose their jobs and sometimes their homes. Questioning growth is deemed to be the act of lunatics, idealists and revolutionaries.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/wired-success/201302/why-western-capitalism-has-failed-us
Western capitalism is based on growth and one major cause for the current decline in growth is that our traditional consumption of goods and services is heavily dependent on the expenditure of subsidized fossil fueled energy and it is running out (subsidized because we basically dig it out of the ground, we don’t have to harvest it) and hence one of the several causes of this current crisis coupled with the shortage of raw materials.
Worldwide people want to be like western consumers but there is not enough earth to be depleted at this rate by all.
Another cause is automation which also accelerates what I am about to highlight below and could lead to another post.
But what if the current crisis is just a refactoring of Western capitalism?
Refactoring to continue our high rate of consumption in the digital dimension by creating infinite disposable digital objects that will add a layer of new experience to the long lasting material goods that will be meant to last.
Planned obsolescence will only take effect in the digital dimension since the physical world will no longer afford it.
We can see that this is already taking place:
- Ecosystems of disposable apps that are periodically marked as obsolete to give way to new apps with updated designs and functionalities.
- Augmented reality that adds a rich new layer of behavior on physical objects.
- Operating systems that manage vehicle hardware just like the way Windows runs on a PC. Tesla software updates is an example of this. Instead of asking what car are you driving, we will ask what operating system are you driving? The managed hardware will take a second place.
- Digital objects on games that grant the player advantages are sold.
- …
Some hubs that attract talent are already benefiting from this transition to the digital realm.
As Marc Vidal states in this post:
http://marcvidal.net/2015/06/crear-empresas-tecnologicas-para-cambiar-el-modelo-economico.html
These hubs are located in places like Palo Alto and Dublin and are creating technological companies to change the economical model. They have a policy, education and attitude for the change towards automation and value-added work.
How are we transitioning to the digital dimension?
The way we deal with our own refactoring will be key for thrive or fail.
Joan Ramon Espuny
iOS developer – R&C Associats
