Radical de-centralization

I've been thinking about the media business a lot lately, especially the slow but steady demise of newspapers. I ran across a new way forward being chartered by the Oakland Press Institute in California. They are opening a classroom that trains citizens to be journalists. What an interesting way of formalizing what news brands have started doing – carving out a roll for the everyday person. 

This got me thinking about the structure of our economy, bizarrely enough. What if decentralization accelerates to include many of the large companies / brands that we know today?

An example from the Proctor and Gamble world would be – under the Pantene brand is a very specialized hair treatment that is sold by a one woman shop in the Atlanta area. The Pantene brand gets the 'serious haircare' halo while offering its customers a brand experience that is unique and local. Using General Motors, with the advent of one fuel cell based platform, micro-factories throughout the country could build custom cars. 

Admittedly, it's not exactly a new model. Technology companies have been acquiring and integrating small fry for a long time. The fashion industry works in a similar way, using licensing to offer unique brand experiences in different forms. But if applied to the likes of GM and P&G, what would this model do to the established norms of brand building and manufacturing.

I'm still working on this idea but I thought I would share while I work through it. Comments are most welcome here.