#cloud capital

[davidmalcolm]

Cloud Capital

FINANCE AND COMMERCE

According to some commentators, wealth, having moved from the feudal period, when the emphasis was on land ownership and wealth from this ownership was provided by rents in various forms and servitude to the lords of the manors, to the capitalist period when the emphasis was on industrial production and the means of production, profit, the buying and selling of shares and capital in companies, buying and selling of goods in markets, the provision of wages, economies of scale and addition of benefit, to the period where we are quickly moving into, that of cloud capitalism, which, in fact is less of a capitalist system and more of a return to feudalism.

Some defining attributes of this new economic model is that the oligarchs who control it tend to produce nothing of huge physical significance (for example goods) themselves but charge fees in the form of rents and or subscriptions for the use of their virtual services. The real estate is virtual and takes the form of platforms or virtual marketplaces.

The seller fees that, for example, Amazon charge are referral fees (introduction of a buyer to a seller), seller account fees and shipping/fulfilment fees. There can be other optional charges for product storage, advertising & promotion, financing. Amazon have buyer/subscriber fees also, such as Amazon Prime which ensures quicker and usually free delivery, and ancillary subscription based services such as music and film streaming services.

The different operating models of vehicle producing companies such as Tesla and Volkswagen highlight the main differences between traditional capitalist and cloud capital enterprises.

Volkswagen is built on a heavily capitalised business producing profitable products and services. Investment is private and public and designed to give investors a return on the capital they provide. Public companies' shares are bought and sold in international trading houses providing opportunities for capital to invest and provide income. Buyers are largely asked to purchase goods and services at point of sale through cash or finance (loans and or leasing plans).

Tesla customers 'invest' in the business by placing a deposit or committing to a finance scheme. Buying into the Tesla brand gives some benefits to the user such as dedicated charging stations when on a journey. The Tesla car is almost like a computer on wheels with enhanced features such as automatic navigation and hands free driving. The emphasis is on the software rather than the hardware: electric vehicles are much more simple that traditional internal combustion engined ones. In Tesla cars, their connectivity is constant.

Running in parallel with this is cryptocurrency, the possibility of purely digital banks and complete extinction of bricks and mortar banks and building societies, and possibly stock markets, the potential of AI to replace many occupations, the removal of the wage earning job and certainly the 9-5.

There are also anxieties around how the above developments will affect the individual and society, and insecurities surrounding global health, food security, energy security, the effects of climate change and political, economic and military upheavals with associated massive scale migration.

WARFARE

Access to technology and the monopolisation and control of information technology can lend huge leverage in conflict situations. During WWII, Britain realised that the Luftwaffe were utilising radio navigation for night bombing missions. Until their blitzkrieg on Britain ended when they launched Operation Barbarossa, British military intelligence and the Air Ministry devised means of jamming and 'bending' these signals causing the bombing missions to miss their intended targets.

The modern equivalent is SatNav, an American development. During the military operations in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Iraq in the early 1990s, the Pentagon managed to tweak SatNav technology to provide accuracy to within 3 metres. This provided the US and allied forces with enormous advantages in military planning of the initial and subsequent conflicts in the middle east. Saddam's regime did try to jam some GPS signals but the US destroyed the jamming apparatus. GPS provided a huge advantage over previous surveillance systems such as radar and visual observation and being a largely American technology, gives them huge advantage over any potential adversaries. Enemy movements could now be accurately assessed, precision given to weapons' targeting and avoidance of friendly fire was enhanced. Saddam's fibre cable network which operated outside of GPS and was used to control his missile arsenal was sabotaged by the coalition forces. As a result of this, other countries have been developing their own GPS systems: India developed a regional system called NavIC. Russia has GLONASS, which, with China's BEIDOU, comes closest to the US SatNav system as does the European Union's GALILEO system. Japan has QZSS which requires development but has the promise of reaching SatNav functionality as it develops.

[blahblahblahviolentpain]

You know how in the original game, they used the PHS to communicate and switch out party members? Well, I know that canonically Vincent doesn't have a phone, but what if he did?

[muffinlevelchicanery]

History may not fully repeat itself but it rhymes. Arms embargo now! Land back now!!

[ayzaart]

ff7 au where aerith meets sephiroth before zack.

.

this changes nothing in the main story, because by then the real sephiroth is already dead. it just makes everything that happens feel that much worse.

(an exploration of the earlier story concept with past aeriseph)

[sonyaheaneyauthor]

Sunrise over Mount Ainslie, Canberra, Australia. X

[clothedinblack]

not even saying this in an individuality complex sort of way but mainstream culture in the US is so poison right now. pop culture has been shoving hyperfemininity down everyone's throats for a year or so which i'm finding more and more alienating as a woman who has decided i don't want to actively perform femininity most of the time. the political climate is increasingly dysfunctional. the leading presidential candidate has a laundry list of positions and statements that should have made him unelectable in the eyes of voters, yet an enormous chunk of the electorate doesn't seem to mind. meanwhile, for the first time in history, a woc has a real shot at winning the presidency, and her supporters and campaign team have memeified her and turned her into a caricature. even the people on her side don't seem to take her seriously as a politician, which is disheartening to me as a woc myself. people are polarized. the middle class is shrinking. fast fashion is ubiquitous. every single book and youtube video seems to be about productivity and self improvement, which are valuable pursuits, but entertainment media feels completely oversaturated with content from the self-help genre. the death of third spaces. the manosphere and the popularity of misogynistic male podcasters. the death of subcultures, and the resulting tendency for young people to seek community by defining themselves with identity stereotypes. and it's hard not to notice how advertising is getting more invasive on every social media platform. and how a lot of our celebrities have a similar look, establishing features that are uncommon without cosmetic procedures as the beauty standard. i feel like i'm swimming against the tide just by existing as myself and not subscribing to the parts of the political and social climate that i don't fw. it's exhausting.

[the-demoness-next-door]

this might sound elitist but i hate how for a lot of people "webtoon" has become synonymous with or replaced the word "webcomic" like. i hate how webtoon as in the company has capitalized on digital comics so hard i hate it go back to posting on sideblogs and personal websites like god intended

[canberramaidan]

Sunset over Lake Burley Griffin and the National Library of Australia, Canberra.

[recreationalwordsayer]

ah i actually got picked for the interview for the library ahhhhh

[awakefor48hours]

I hate the tiktokifcation of the English language.

[palmtreepalmtree]

I am so utterly baffled by trends. I could never be in marketing.

I admit that I am not into things (which makes it very difficult to buy me gifts), so that's sort of a handicap right off the bat. But that's not to say that I don't ever buy or receive things that I love. I have a few traditional ceramic mugs in my office rotation that are favorites and bring me joy on every use (a couple were gifted, one was my own purchase).

But this article describes a secondary market for these water bottles ($240 for something that retails at $49.99), and it links to a tiktok where a person shows off their 20+ collection of these things? WHY

Having nice things is nice. Having things you like is nice.

But I am just so confused by conspicuous consumption and brand consciousness. What is it that compels people to do this? The brands and their insidious advertising do enough psychological damage to me already. I'm not virtuous for not buying more things. And I'm obviously not magically unaffected by marketing. But I don't feel compelled to collect or be trendy. So I just don't get it.

How are people out there just leaning into this shit so fucking hard? WHY

[downfalldestiny]

My Algeria ❤️🇩🇿 !.

[wolfephoto]

The Balmoral Hotel - Edinburgh by John Wolfe Via Flickr: Scotland 2024

[notquiteaghost]

this is ur uk-specific retail employee reminder if there's a supermarket near you u should check if they're open on december 25th / 26th and if they're not then there is likely an absurd amnt of reduced price food available to you tmrw. this post brought to you by the entire shelf of croissants we yellow stickered this evening

[forkaround]

I'm sorry, do people kinda forget that BLs have to make money to make more BLs? Or have they not touched grass in so long that they've forgotten?

Media needs to make money for there to be more media made.

Are people expecting these people to work for free? For min wage? It's understood that being a celeb is profitable so why are people complaining when it comes to BLs? I've never, in India or the West seen so many companies, individuals or stories actively advocating for equal rights and even then I see people say shit like this. Have they forgotten that they are people who need to cloth, feed, live in their ASIAN countries?

How is this nuance getting lost? Tumblr might brainwash you into thinking all money is evil (evangelical christian ideology, mind you) but it's not. It has, would you believe, nuance to it.