A Digital Riddle
When I try to explain the digital economy, I end up with doubt in my mind if people see what I see. A digital economy is so invisible, fluid, and hard to grasp.
When Nebraska started, there were railroads, tressels, and metal to forge with train stops at every town The railroad made money selling much of their land to businesses which would be built near the railroads. This is why the property tax system worked.
There have been more modern attempts at development with the Keystone Pipeline and the Mandan power line proposals but these became shelved. These industries are so visible, and easy to explain, whereas the digital economy is not.
So to explain, let me role-play a riddle with you.
Andrew: I am a very rich businessman. Guess my business!
Reader: Oh, you must have a very large business building!
Andrew: No, my business only occupies 1,000 square feet.
Reader: Well, how can this be? Where do your customers park?
Andrew: They do not need parking. In fact, they don’t need to commute to my business or even see me.
Reader: Oh, well this is very curious. You must have a big sign for your business and sell a tasty product.
Andrew: No, it has no sign, and the product has no taste but it tempts people all the time. At the same time, many of my customers prefer me to be invisible.
Reader: Well how do you sell anything!?!? You must have lots of ads.
Andrew: I don’t need to advertise. I have plenty of businesses and customers buying my product. In fact, they do all the work for me. All because they deal in pieces of plastic.
Reader: But why do you receive such support?
Andrew: Oh, people need me to order food, deliver packages, get a ride, and sometimes merely to figure out where they are and where to go.
Reader: Well, what about security for all this business? There must be an expense.
Andrew: Not much. A fence, and a security camera. Not much personnel are needed. The property is obscure and hard to get to anyways. In fact, real estate agents have no interest in the land. And the property tax is nearly non-existent.
Reader: So what are your business hours? When is it open?
Andrew: Well, it is not “open” as you say but it is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and always in demand and use.
Reader: Have you ever shut down due to a storm or blizzard?
Andrew: Not once. Not at all. In fact, I am more reliable than OPPD.
Reader: Oh common! All right, I give up. What business are you in?
Andrew: I am an owner of a cell tower! Well, as far as the riddle goes.
Now, I took some liberties with this example. Cell towers are generally owned by large companies which do advertise and their products are subject to various taxes. Also, there are many types of cell towers of various sizes, generating various incomes for their owners.
However, the point here is to show just how invisible and innocuous this part of the digital economy is. Phone makers sell phones mostly made of plastic particularly when a case is added. You don’t need to go to the shop at the mall to get one. The phone can be delivered by mail or you can choose to purchase one at a gas station.
Service providers make money but a portion of it ends up in the hands of who owns the cell tower including the people or organizations which allow such towers on their land through leases. The cell tower is basically a digital toll booth but most seldom notice how many there are: this is in spite of the fact the United States has over 7 million cell towers (https://opencellid.org/stats.php).