If you build it for the good of all

The words whispered to Ray Kinsella played by Kevin Costner in the 1989 movie, “Field of Dreams” were the catalyst for building a baseball park for the legacy and the legends of the game. We never see the finished park. What was to attract fans was not a humongous facility, but the re-capture of a simple, wholesomeness for the good of all.

The words, “If you build it they will come” were as much about the players, those who play for the absolute love of the game, as well as the fans.

I have been urging and encouraging people with the Knowledge, Skills and Experience to build computers and servers for small business and neighbors, alike. That’s nothing spectacular. People will come to you not for the glitz, but for the homespun trust and “service” (actually, it’s “being neighborly”) they chance not finding at their local retailer for something they can use and is affordable. It is a means of revenue for the system builders and a means of allowing low-income Americans the opportunity to own a computer.

My search for the cheapest computer came up with $279, $195 and $164 (monitor not included). I am not going to name brands as a matter of principal. I maintain with a little resourcefulness an at-home tech-built computer system will beat the cheapest. How, you ask?

Lets understand, for starters, even $164 is a bit more than many people can comfortable to pull out of pocket for a single purchase. So, why do I believe they would be willing to pay even twice as much?

The next time your co-worker, neighbor or friend laughs at the prospect of owning a computer tell him to drop by when he’s got $10 to spare. Then, you send him off with a single-item grocery list to Goodwill or a discount parts reseller to buy a power supply, keyboard or mouse. Next month he’s got $20 and he holds it another month until he’s got $35. You send him off with a grocery list and he returns with a motherboard. Finally, six months later after purchasing a hard drive and monitor and other essentials he has everything you need to build his system.

On a sunny Saturday morning your friend brings coffee and tacos (donuts? bagels?) and joins you in the garage. You assemble the system and install the Windows copy he bought at Goodwill or you go online to download the OS for his computer. After numerous reboots your friend is a happy, proud owner of his first system and puts $30 dollars in your hand as agreed between neighbors, previously. Total price: $400. SAY WHAT!! Whoa thar, hombre!!

What happened to the cheaper-than-retailer talk? No, this is not a case of poor addition. The above scenario is not to depict exact price for every single piece nor your service fee. It is intended to show how your friend, on his own terms, buys all the essential components for his system, himself. In the end the price tag could possibly exceed the reseller’s display case model. What’s the advantage for your friend? It is a deal he is never going to get at Best Buy, Circuit City, Walmart, Dell or HP. He won’t even get that on layaway and it's certainly not a handout.

The advantage and the reason your friend is happy is that despite the fact he could see this was turning out to cost a bit more than the store model

The bottom dollar price was one he was able to absorb into his daily living expenses.

This scenario, when replicated through the dynamic of a network is nothing less than the inclusion of the low-income consumer into the cyber world. Greater still than building a computer for a neighbor is the buildup of community one neighbor at a time for the good of all.

One Dress, One Computer at a Time

There are workers in several industries hit hard, one at a time, in America by the corporate practice of overseas outsourcing, incompetence and other factors. Among these is the apparel industry. Right along with apparel is the computer and IT industry, in general. Apparel holds the longer track record of the two and what transpires once these jobs leave our communities. There's one thing the computer industry and IT can learn from the apparel industry: Those jobs are not coming back.

There is opportunity, here.

Workers in the apparel and computer fields, respectively, have acquired, and in some instances, amassed a great deal of Knowledge, Skills and Experience (KSE). What many do not realize is they can utilize these KSE resources as entrepreneurs generating an income for their families. Furthermore, many mistakingly believe being self-employed or having a business of their own requires sums of money they do not have to open a shop. I would not advise either of them to leave their new jobs whether at McDonald's, Walmart or other place of employment. I will urge both to consider the potential dynamic of Independent Contractor-Networks. (IC-Networks)

The IC-Network model enables indviduals and retailers to build their businesses mutually, successfully, locally, regionally, statewide and nationwide. Apparel boutique and VAR (Value-Added Resellers) owners continue to struggle to increase sales and service revenues. The reason: If they are not sole individuals trying to do it all themselves they are small business employers who cannot afford to hire the additional workers to boost their revenues. Their business model can only carry them so far. Where major corporations will outsource; boutique and VAR owners shutdown.

The outsourcing of apparel and computer jobs overseas has left in its wake an enormous talent pool; people with the KSE to meet the needs of local boutique and VAR owners.

What is the difference between an upscale dress at Neiman-Marcus and one at a local boutique? Other then price and location: None. My point is the employee whose KSE produced the Neiman-Marcus dress on the production floor is the same person capable of producing the same for the boutique owner. Boutique owners can provide and build relationships with customers for whom corporate conventional mass production has given one option as consumers: One size fits none.

What is the difference between a name-brand computer and a whitebox / whitebook? Other than price and localtion: None. When Dell sized the whitebox market at 3 billion dollars it pretty much remained unchanged when Dell got out of it a couple years later. Who makes up that 3 billion dollar market as yet unpenetrated by the Acers, Dells, HPs and Lenovos? They are the low-income, Blacks and Hispanics who do not own a computer. They industry has moved on to pursue the current hot item: Laptops. I do not expect those who could not afford a desktop to race to their local retailer for their laptop.

No single boutique or VAR owner can rival the mega corporation's local chainstore. However, a local IC-Network can greatly increase the efficiency and productivity of their business with one dress, one computer at a time.

The IC-Network model targets other industries which lend themselves to independent contracting. The model will launch locally (in Round Rock, Texas) and expand regionally, statewide and nationwide. It represents promise and hope for our families, comuunities and country.

We welcome your comments.

Hope you will join us at that time.