GLOBAL, LOCAL: A LETTER TO THE ECONOMIST (July 20, 2011)
Citing recent research by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and Boston Consulting Group, you argue that different countries have distinct Internet communities, and that the Internet is not all that global (“Going Local,” July 16, 2011). Hundreds of Internet flavors are therefore expected rather than one global community. The Internet will continue to go more and more local as less developed countries embrace it in earnest. Fair enough, but the generalization strikes me as rather puerile. It all depends on the business, of course. For some, the old “think global, act local” will make perfect sense. For others, “think local, act global” will be the right approach. And there are two more possibilities left to the imagination of every nimble businessman. In short, the Internet will offer different opportunities to different businesses. Many of them might well remain local, but that is hardly noteworthy.