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And You Thought Kinkos Was Good
The possibilities and questions are endless at this point.
3-D printing is progressing at such fast rate that it may become just another part of our daily lives within a decade. A heavy proposition for sure. What does it mean? It’s a perplexing dilemma. On the one hand, when LEGO forgets to put a single piece into a box set of Black Beard’s pirate ship from “Pirates of the Caribbean,” it would have been much more efficient to have had a machine at home that could have printed the missing gray piece in a matter of minutes for my nephew as opposed to calling the LEGO Store and getting it shipped from Denmark.
True story.
On the other hand, purchasing a machine that prints 3-D objects will undoubtedly reduce commerce in stores (offline and online), consequently hurting businesses that are run by our neighbors, friends and people who are just trying to make a good living. Society will become much more introverted, which is a dynamic that has positives like convenience, but is (currently) outweighed by negatives, such as the decreasing inclination to go outside to a video rental store.
What will be the landmark case be surrounding patents? How will businesses adjust to this evolution of people being able to make and/or copy-and-paste a wide-array of things themselves that are normally sold in stores? What will the quality of the printed objects be? What positive effects on society will it have? What negative effects on society will it have?
3-D printing is evolving into pivotal issues of need versus want and quality versus convenience (just two examples).
At least we don’t need special glasses to see all this coming at us…
The Crew 2.0
According to thecrew.com, San Francisco’s Anthony Precourt of Precourt Sports Ventures, LLC has become the new owner of the Columbus Crew. Remarkably, Preourt is only the second owner of “America’s Hardest Working Team” since its 1996 inception as a Charter Member of Major League Soccer. Yesterday marked not only the transition from the legendary Hunt Sports Group, but also represented a seismic shift in the operations and management of the Columbus Crew.
Ceremonial jubilation aside, a significant dynamic has been created. After Precourt was handed the keys to America’s first soccer-specific stadium, he and his company just may have turned the front office of the Columbus Crew into an up-and-coming venture capital start-up…with 18 years experience and championships on the shelf, including 2008’s MLS Cup.
Throughout the Crew’s long history, patience has been a cornerstone of the organization. There are several instances of when this has been a tremendous asset. This degree of trust is a unique quality in today’s fast-paced world. Conversely, if things started to go poorly, at least in the eyes of the dedicated fans, the front office has been quite glacial to make any drastic and necessary changes. A prime example of this mentality is the fact that Robert Warzycha is still the head coach.
However, successful businesses do not operate with this much elasticity. Data points are constantly analyzed and debated, with necessary adjustments made when appropriate. Precourt, and this is only from an initial impression, appears to be of the mindset that success does not occur when one is losing. Again, Warzycha is still the head coach. Spending the past five seasons watching the same movie on repeat has gotten old and frustratingly predictable.
Crew fans are very cognizant that Warzycha was the head coach that directed the team that won the MLS Cup in 2008 under head coach Sigi Schmid to a squad that couldn’t win a playoff game in 2009.
The point is that Precourt and his business partners appear interested in obtaining success while simultaneously appealing to and growing the incredible fan base in Ohio’s capital city. It’s potentially an adaptation of the European football culture: treating the team, roster and results like a business, while engaging fans, creating a fun atmosphere and generating a lovable brand. He said in a recent interview that success begins on the pitch.
And I can safely assert that every Crew fan hopes he intends to begin with the field located in Columbus Crew Stadium.
Jimmy's Daily Planet 