Seth Godin is working on defining the very new economy which he calls the "blended economy" - wonderful observations:

"So, how do we tell the good from the bad? In a connected world where people don't have letterhead, don't wear suits (don't even own suits) work out of tiny rented office suites (or their living room) have a simple website and buy only Adwords, have an answering machine not a PBX, don't have a receptionist or a sculpture out front... in that world, how do we tell?

As we've stripped away a lot of the extraneous expenses and signaling mechanisms, are we in a race to the bottom (if "bottom" means raw, not bad)? I can no longer count on the best books coming from a major publisher, on the best articles being in the biggest magazines (in fact, I can assume that if it's the cover story of a major magazine, it's insipid). I can no longer assume that someone with a sketchy resume or a simple website isn't serious about what they're up to..."