Seth's Blog : Who pays?

Who pays?

Supply and demand are always in a dance, with one outpacing the other from time to time.

In the last three years, the green tech revolution has accelerated dramatically. Countless companies are being created to change how food is grown, people are transported and energy is created. I’ve been stunned by the pace as well as the passion of many of the people working on these projects.

The bet some are making is that greener tech will simultaneously be cheaper, easier and more convenient.

And then, of course, everyone will switch, and the investments will pay off.

But new tech is rarely cheaper, easier and more convenient. And new tech that involves energy almost never is.

And so, we see Hertz losing their nerve and selling off electric cars. “There’s insufficient demand” combined with “it’s not as convenient…”

The problem here is one of timing. We’re asking the users of the new tech to do most of the paying, even though we all benefit.

We benefit from the experience curve that will ultimately enable the price-performance ratio of these technologies to improve.

And most of all, we all benefit by saving money on healthcare, climate remediation and unpredictable disasters.

Building a bridge between now and later is often a challenge when we seek to rewire our tech. The internet only arrived because DARPA and others kept it going for more than twenty years before it clicked.

Refocusing on the ‘we’ is a powerful way for us to get from here to there.