Baring visits from extra-terrestrials who can transport us all to a "terra-formed" planet called Nuevo-Mars, the infinite, straight-line (sometimes vertically asymptotic) growth "curves" about everything we discovered and did in the 20th century must come to an end. Reasonable futuristic speculation can find solutions to supporting 10 perhaps even 20 billion people on this planet. But, that's it. GAME OVER!!!

Most of the world did NOT participate in the growth of knowledge that was experienced in western countries over the past 500 years. The next 100 years will certainly be a period of "growth" for most non-western countries, and the markets for any product or technology must be now managed as being in a global population market. The demographics will be that there will be many small (not mass) markets whose total units of demand could therefore be very large since selling to, or buying from, anywhere in the world will be possible. The 20th century "mass market" idea (to sell things like soap) grew out of the the communication technologies of that era. The world's so many different cultures, religions, languages, on one hand, will permit viable business that is from the start: international.

But a single product is unlikely to be of sufficient value to be made and sold by the billions of units. Even today, a very popular movie like AVATAR, which can generate GIGABUCKS in total sales, is authored in many different versions so that each market sub-group finds it immediately and nearly instantaneously valuable. The world wide release of that communication proves that fiber-optics can make "GIG" events world wide relevant. HOWEVER, the real trend is NOT toward more AVATARs that cost $300 million to produce and promote, but toward content that may come from social networks that today may have NO demand, and tomorrow may be seen by a billion people (Super-Bowl advertising numbers, anyone?)

All this has major importance to marketing and manufacturing and servicing anything we do. Today, via media and software, millions can be taught to locally make products in small volumes. The "how to" technology is now possible to be taught quickly and universally, with some local input and variations. In the 20th century, a product might be made exclusively (via patents or export/import restrictions) in one country and shipped to another for consumption. Think about Scotch whiskey, Bordeaux wines, and Columbian cocaine.

In this new 21st century, the same product might be made almost identically in most cities of the world. Need proof? Kentucky Fried Chicken, (a physical product quickly and locally manufactured) can be found today in remote cities of China which are a LONG way from Kentucky. On the bleeding edge of this methodology is the phenomena of "franchised" small business opportunities. All the McDonald's hamburgers taste almost the same anywhere in the world. That was made possible via computerized management of component supply lines and very effective "technical education."

If we develop successful technologies for the generation of energy and its use in transportation, the instantaneous market is already international and can be served within days rather than months or years. The net effect will be a much needed homogenation of behaviors and attitudes and ambitions. Two friends at opposite ends of the earth might be more friendly and committed to each other than they are to their next-door neighbors. You now have GIGABODs of neighbors... pick one. Said differently, GIGMEDIA CONSULTING can show the way toward building the corporate information structure that can permit a new mode of product manufacturing... internationally.