《Location Is (Still) Everything - Ch 2》.pdf

Two RESISTANC E Why Frictions Exist and How to Overcome Them RE SIS TANCE n. A force that tends to oppose or retard motion. In chapter , GEOGRAPHY, we saw that the real world is organized in a structured way. Individuals choose where and how to live, and these choices lead to specic neighborhood clusters. That is, neighborhoods tend to be formed by people who share demographic characteristics, lifestyles, and preferences for certain types of goods and services. Birds of a feather do indeed ock together. More than this, people who are in close (physical) proximity to one another tend not only to consume similar products and services, but also to share information about the things that they like. My friend and neighbor Lee oen tells me about new bars and restaurants in Philadel- phia; colleagues at work chat about the latest gadgets. In this chapter, I’ll look at how we navigate the real world and what that means for how we enlist the virtual world to help overcome fric- tions and get what we want. L O C AT I O N I S ( S T I L L ) E V E R Y T H I N G / 51 Real-World Frictions THE DIFFICULTY OF SEARCH In the real world we all face obstacles to getting what we want. Markets don’t always provide us with exactly what we’d like to know to make an informed choice, or exactly the right product for our needs and desires — let alone at the right price. These kinds of impediments