The apprentice model is making a resurgence through online craft communities or virtual guilds. These groups are growing through the mainstreaming of computer-controlled manufacturing and the democratic sales channels of the internet. Similar to open-source software communities, virtual guilds have a pioneering role in championing new technologies, often with only niche applications. The future success of these virtual guilds will depend on a careful balance of access to commercial media and focus on socially relevant issues.
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Bonanni et al. (2010) studied this question.
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