Enabling customers to collaborate with you - in creating, distributing, marketing, and supporting products - is what creates a premium in today's market.
The most successful enterprises today are networks - which extract as little value as possible so they can grow as big as possible - and the platforms on which those networks are built.
Networks are built atop platforms. A platform enables. It helps build value. If it is open and collaborative, those users may in turn add value to the platforms.
The internet is a great big race to free. Anyone who has built a business model with a price above free for something that can be free is in a tough strategic position. So how do you get to free first?
We have shifted from an economy based on scarcity to one based on abundance. The control of products or distribution will no longer guarantee a premium and a profit.