Level playing fields: November 10, 1997 issue of New Thinking

November 10, 1997 New Thinking:
Level playing fields

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November 10, 1997

Level playing fields

By Gerry McGovern

Level playing fields are no joy to the small player.

What is a level playing field? Well, for starters, it’s level. Which means that it’s flat. With no bumpy surfaces. And the grass is nicely cut. It’s a beauty to play on. Really allows skill to show.

Now, imagine you are Nowhere Central and you’ve been drawn against Manchester United. The pitch that you’re due to play them on is bumpy, rutty. When standing at one goal mouth, you can’t see the other end because of the cute little hill in the centre. Strategically positioned throughout the pitch are perfectly formed circles of cow shite, because the cows are the grass cutters.

What do you do as Nowhere Central? You complain, of course! You tell the authorities that you want a level playing field upon which to play the great Manchester United. Now, why would you want to do that?

Because you want to get annihilated!

A poor team, with little resources or skill, shudders at the sight of a level playing field on which they must play that giant multinational corporation. Because on level playing fields skill and buying power shows far quicker, and the goals they will mount up.

Some say that the Internet is a level playing field, that it gives small companies as much of a chance as larger ones. A chance for what? To get leveled?

The Internet will benefit certain small companies who have something very unique to offer. It will benefit certain small outfits who can move faster than their larger, more bureaucratic competitors.

What about the small firms who move slow? (Just because your small doesn’t mean you can move or think fast.) Small bookstores and record stores, how will they fare against Amazon or CDNow in the long-term? The customer in Nowhere Central can now go to that ‘big city’ store online, right from their sitting room.

I predict that over the next ten years the Internet will put an awful lot of small-to-medium companies out of business.

Level playing fields are important to large corporations. Many feel that when playing against Microsoft they play up a hill, with an artificial gale force wind blowing in their faces. And there is no second half.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not against level playing fields. It’s just that when people use those three words, there is often an implied justice for all echo in the sentence. Level playing fields are the essence of fairness when upon them play teams of relatively equal power and skill.

And anyway, the Internet for many has stopped being a level playing field. The giant corporations are daily remaking the game, the rules and the fields. Face reality. The Internet is not the savior of democracy and free speech. It is, and will become more so, the most fiercely competitive and most fought for marketplace in the world.

Indeed, the Internet does give significant power and potential to individuals, minority and other groups. (If they have the resources to be online, of course.) However, having the opportunity to voice your anger about having lost your job to a ‘big city’ onliner on a level playing field, gives little real comfort.

Gerry McGovern

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The Internet is not the savior of democracy and free speech. It is, and will become more so, the most fiercely competitive and most fought for marketplace in the world.