How many startup blogs have we opened (e.g., Paul Graham) where they mention the cotton mill, or the printing press, and then they tie that in with the internet?

Snuff. Damn intellectuals always bringing up the past. I didn't find that kind of history interesting. I wasn't a 60 year old man interested in dry facts to show off.

But then I got into a reading rut.

And picture books saved me.

(Yes, I count even those in my yearly book count.)

I started to flip through the evolution of antique makeup compacts.

I got into the history of beauty brands.

I got into the battles between beauty mogul founders (I'm looking at you Charles Revson of Revlon and Elizabeth Arden).

I got into... I can't believe I'm saying this... World War I and II history.

Since then, I've gone deeper into history.. And I get it now. Learning about what's happened in the past has taught me context. History teaches me how my work—and I—fit into the greater industry, region, and time period. I realized that Founders succeeded by "tagging onto a spaceship". They provided a helpful service for their people at that time with the new resources available at that time. Understanding this is critical to my ability to take a step back, and ask myself, what are the tools available uniquely at this time (well, in the coming five years), and how can they help people with today's pains?

In the spirit of this, I'd like to take on the easy task of summarizing the last 100 years of retail evolution.

Each post will go over a frame of time— 20-30 year spans.

Finally, I will end with my predictions for the future of retail with the confidence of a proud child.

Obviously, the future revolves around Electronic-Commerce ("E-Commerce").

.. Or does it?

Stay tuned.