All change for platforms: Eight due diligence points for 2014

January is the time of year when ‘futurologists' traditionally make their predictions. I have enjoyed reading them this time around, my favourite being that 2014 will see a huge growth in artisanal activities. This is a backlash to the rise of technology, where people seek to escape from the digital revolution via creative, practical pastimes. Artisanal activities might include having an allotment, say, or baking cakes. The dichotomy in all of this, of course, is that people will inevitably reach for their smartphones to tweet pictures of their lovely cabbage patch or chocolate browni...