TEDxSydney - Rachel Botsman - Collaborative Consumption Author Presents Compelling Case for 21C

Rachel Botsman is the co-author of "What's Mine is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption" (Harper Collins, September 2010). Here, with a dazzlingly graphic display, she presents a compelling case for 21st Century sharing.

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TEDxSydney 2010 was organised by General Thinking and took place on Saturday 22 May 2010 at CarriageWorks. Almost 2,000 people enjoyed the day, over 700 in the theatre and the rest via big screen simulcast in The Forum. It was a grand day.

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• Consumption

[themapplz]

I love you Rachel Botsman!

[BraziliAna]

I got the link to this video on Twitter. I´m happy I checked it out, but sad to realise Mrs Botsman loves emerging technologies too much to quit her career and hit the big screens.

[Jentedyret]

best TED so far! And I have watched some...

[hyperlocavore]

We share yards, seeds, food, fruit,veg over here watch?v=PxO4JUaTzgA

[MrRobertGulabo]

Damn... she's giving away my secret! Today, there's always someone with a large TV with a complete set of

DVD's... People love to have you over to watch their shows with them. All you gotta do is lay back and be patient... which not a LOT of people would do. But I have the infinite patience of the immortal so I get away with it...

[jdaviescoates]

@hiddenpersuader you can still get that by hiring a BMW and pretending your own it, if that is your thing. However, I think more and more people are beginning to see those who take more than their fair share and don't share what they've got as pricks. Sharing is cool. Owning a big fancy car is stupid. Do you want to mate with stupid people?

[jdaviescoates]

@themapplz I love Rachel too! :)

[iQuantumAustralia]

There are so many great examples of this concept in action- especially curious to see how this works for non-profits. Platforms like Kiva that allow anyone to become a money lender to 3rd world entrepreneurs.

[rachelbotsman]

@sckchui Natural Capitalism is a great book - it focuses more on 'cradle to cradle' product design.

I disagree though on your big business point - there is enormous commercial potential to move from a units sold to units of usage model. Also, there are opportunities to build ancillary Collaborative Consumption services into traditional consumer models. For example, Zappos could have a shoe repair and shoe swapping platform - if done right, they reinforce brand loyalty.

[rachelbotsman]

@sckchui @sckchui Yes, it is easier to build collaborative systems that reach critical mass in high density urban areas but we are now seeing examples start to emerge that are ideal for low density suburbs e.g. Relay Rides and Social Bicycles Please note swapping physical stuff is just one dimension of Collaborative Consumption - I think we are in the midst of a big shift away from hyper-individualism towards shared experiences in all shapes and sizes.

[rachelbotsman]

@sckchui Great comments. De materialization is a big part of Collaborative Consumption but the reality is there are a lot of consumer goods out there sitting idle. The opening example was to illustrate the power of the internet to overcome the 'coincidence of wants. ' I believe technology can help mop up the surplus of waste we have created over the past 50 or so years.