It is so easy to get worked up over pieces like this after reading a piece like this. I have watched so many sharing efforts come and go, each purporting to do what the previous efforts were unable to do. Technology is usually a major factor in each effort, but as the second article points out, it is the personal aspect that drives progress in this area; you share with those you know.
More sharing would also take place were there not a myriad of competing equities involved, which to me is another argument for consolidation. If your first level of competition is the very people you are supposed to share with, you’re not going to give up jack. It is both human and organizational nature to give up that which cannot be used against you and then strike a magnanimous pose.
Of course when you have situations like this in play (page 17, para 2) you have to wonder why we bother pursuing sharing initiatives in the first place.
