Difference between revisions of "Heavy Modernity"

Revision as of 20:50, 22 January 2011

"Fordism was self-consious of modern society in it's 'eavy', 'bulky', or 'immobile' and 'rooted', 'solid' phase. At that stage in their joint history, capital, management and labour were all, for better or worse, doomed to stay in one another's comapny for a long time to come, perhaps for ever - tied down by the combination of huge factory buildings, heavy machinery and massive labour forces. Liquid Modernity

Amazon.com has a negative operating cycle:

Amazon turn it's inventory every 20 days

Best buy turns every 74 days. Amazons orbit is shorter. It's closer to the sun

Day 0, Order product

• Product paid for day 44
• Customer buys 74
• Cash debt for 45 days.
• Short term credit is needed during this time

How does amazon do it?

• Order product day zero
• Product paid for on day 44
• Customer buys day 20
• Customer pays 22

Cash float for 22 days

• People understand how cash float works and design for that.
• The interest they can generate on that alone is a profit. So they can sell products cheaper than mac.
• Cheaper than what they buy them for.

Source: Jared Spool