As we’ve discussed before, the peer-to-peer economy is emerging in surprising and empowering ways, with sites like RipeNear.me connecting people to local food sources in ways never before possible. But as the eye of Sauron (aka JP Morgan) alights on this new phenomenon, it’s important that we take stock of the P2P economy before it is co-opted and corrupted. Join James for a new open source investigation into the P2P platforms that are helping to connect communities and empower individuals across the globe.
If you know of a helpful P2P platform (whether related to food, labour, lending or any other activity) please log in and leave it in the comments below.
SHOW NOTES:
RipeNear.me
Real-life ‘Eye of Sauron’ will open up over Moscow skyscraper tower
Here’s how much money people are making from the sharing economy
Let me start the ball rolling on this investigation with the first link:
http://www.watchmybit.com/
I just learned about this site the other day. Video producers can post their videos and set a price that viewers pay in bitcoin for permission to view. The price can be as low as 9 cents per view and can be split up among the collaborators who created the video. Payments are instantaneous and automatic and require no middle man and no bank. It’s an interesting idea and I’d be interested to hear from anyone who might have tried it out.
In case anyone hasn’t heard of OpenBazaar, it’s a p2p decentralized marketplace for goods and services. It’s still being tested, but should ready soon. http://openbazaar.org
And I just read about another one called Rein, which is similar to openbazaar.org, but it’s only for services. http://reinproject.org
Interesting. Thanks for the heads up.
Fantastic idea this ripe near me site ! i will definitely contribute and see what i can find around here . This is the type of stuff we need more of , even offering trade with non-food stuff as an option would be ideal , say services or other goods , as some are gardeners while others are handy etc ..
This really made my day browsing it . wow . excellent and thumbs up to whoever started and is contributing to it !
http://littlefreelibrary.org
From their website FAQ
“A Little Free Library is a โtake a book, return a bookโ free book exchange. They come in many shapes and sizes, but the most common version is a small wooden box of books. Anyone may take a book or bring a book to share.
Little Free Library book exchanges have a unique, personal touch. There is an understanding that real people are sharing their favorite books with their community; Little Libraries have been called mini-town squares.”
I’ve long wanted a local bulletin board (website) where not-for-profits can list their ‘needs’ and local businesses can list their ‘give-aways’. Does anyone know if this exists elsewhere?
I am in Canada and to date when I have furniture or equipment being replaced in the office, I contact the local United Way office, who send out an email blast to their affiliated organizations.
I’d like to see spread, a small way to add more positive to the world.
James, you have been in Japan so long you have forgotten what February is like in Canada!! Remember that four letter word SNOW? I bet there will be more garden produce on RipeNearMe once it starts growing. Enjoyed the info.
It should also be stressed that the big P2P “sharing economy” sites (AirBnB, Uber, etc.) are not the only ones out there, and the problems with sites like those ones won’t be solved by government regulation but competition from sites with better ways of dealing with these problems. That’s why I was glad to find this list:
15 Niche Alternatives to Airbnb
http://www.shareable.net/blog/15-niche-alternatives-to-airbnb
This may be too capitalist for some folks but I try to use p2p investment vehicles as a way to side-step banks…
https://bnktothefuture.com/
https://www.fundingcircle.com/uk/
https://www.zopa.com/lending
Thanks for sharing “findaspring”. First time I’ve heard about it, but it’s such a basic, simple, important information resource.
For any Latvians (or Latvian speakers) in the crowd, the following comes from a listener via email:
P2P exchange site: http://mainam.lv/
P2P site for giving away / receiving used goods: https://www.atdot.lv/sludinajumi
Submitted by a listener via email:
“I use the site Eatwild.com Connect local farmers with people in the area. I have purchased sides of local grass feed beef from a farmer on the site.”
http://eatwild.com/
Thanks for the links, Terraset. Nice to see a Calgarian offering as well…even if they seem to be uncritical of the IBM “smarter cities” technocracy nonsense.
An interesting article from Kevin Carson about how the real P2P ride-sharing solution is neither the taxicab medallion system nor Lyft/Uber corporate middleman ride-sharing:
https://c4ss.org/content/45288
What does P2P actually mean?
Power to the People
Hi,
Is this investigation still open?
I ask because I think the foundation of future peer to peer will be with a network that is less / not dependent upon ISPs.
i2p (https://geti2p.net/en/) and various mesh ideas would help with this.
Also, I’ve put together a prototype of a cheap node (<ยฃ100 GBP) for networking over ham radio.
I've written a draft paper on it – is any of this helpful?