Personal Original Insights and Complete Outline of Corresponding Academic Theory
I. Initial Core Observation
1. Discovery of the Essential Difference Between Two Types of Intermediaries
- Type 1: Value-Creating Intermediaries (Using Apple as a case study)
- Type 2: Price-Adding Intermediaries (Using real estate agents and insurance agents as case studies)
2. Initial Question and Thinking
- Why is there such a vast difference in value and function between intermediaries?
- Are all intermediaries merely adding prices, and does Apple really belong to the traditional intermediary category?
II. Deepening Thinking and Dialectical Counter-Questioning
- Having substitutes does not mean being essentially the same; Android and Apple are competitors in the same innovation track.
- Value-creating intermediaries still leave a new category behind, while price-adding intermediaries only make access cheaper when removed.
III. Formation of Original Theoretical Conclusion
- Value-creating entities generate incremental value through creative integration.
- Pure rent-extracting intermediaries resell information gaps and increase transaction costs.
IV. Academic Theory Confirmation
- Core theory: Rent Creation versus Rent Extraction.
- Proposer: Fred S. McChesney.
- Proposed time: 1987.
V. Final Core Summary
- Value-creating entities are value producers with irreplaceability.
- Pure rent-extracting intermediaries are value distributors and can be replaced.