The power of options

Monday Forrester Research reported that for the first time, on average, citizens of the U.S. spend more time on the Internet than they do watching television.  Interestingly, the amount of time spent watching television has not declined much.  Instead, folks have reduced the amount of time spent reading printed newspapers and magazines.

It would be tempting to talk about what everyone else is talking about with regard to this data.  Namely, that the Internet is HUGE.  But that is a waste of your time and my time.  We all know that we are all on the Internet – here you are, after all!  No, my preference is to talk about why the Internet is supplanting other media; even eventually television.  The reason is: options.

We all use the Internet because options are valuable.  Lately there has been a backlash against the myriad and bewildering amount of choices that consumerist cultures provide folks.  This backlash, while an appropriate check on consumerism, will never convince anyone that their lives are better with less freedom to make choices.  Options are good.  We all prefer to have more than a few choices.  Simply put, the secret of the success of the Internet is that it provides more choices than all other media forms and all other shopping forms.

There is a kernel within this point that is important to us as investors.  Investments that provide more options to folks tend to succeed more often.  You might say, “Duh!”  However, I would encourage you to use the “is this investment creating more options for folks?” as a primary filter when evaluating investment choices.  Whether those investments are in a business; or accepting a new job; or choosing to stay in, or enter into a new, relationship; relocating to another city; and so on.  When there are more options present there is higher value…period.

Jason