Some mobile operators that are running both Wi-Fi networks and 3G networks say the cost of building more capacity in the Wi-Fi network is only 10% of the cost to do so in the 3G network.

FORBES: Making Wi-Fi '3G Secure' For Mobile Data Offloading

Or, envision an easy-to-use software package that lets a building owner perform virtual energy audits at a fraction of the cost of in-person audits, so real savings are calculated instantly, building upgrades launched sooner, and construction jobs created faster.

WHITEHOUSE: Energy Datapalooza: Unleashing the Power of Open Data to Advance our Energy Future | The White House

They only paid for the computing power they used, avoiding the cost and resource burden of building infrastructure in-house.

FORBES: The Battle For The Cloud Is On -- Who Will Win?

The cost of this crash exercise in army-building is around eleven billion dollars a year.

NEWYORKER: After America

Marquee consumer web successes (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) plus the much reduced cost of building a web-based service and attracting users in six-figures has produced a big surge in such businesses.

FORBES: Sunset For The Consumer Web?

Given the risks of aiming such a powerful beam of high-intensity radiation at an Earth ground station, as well as the cost of building billions of dollars in infrastructure to collect the energy in space, the efficiencies you can get from terrestrial solar power seem a safer bet--at least for now.

FORBES: Galactic Gold Mine?

The building efficiency revolution emerges now from the inter-related confluence of the collapsed cost of microprocessors, enabling embedded intelligence in offerings as simple as light bulbs (soon), as well as the development of standards and interfaces for the formerly "dumb" hardware, and the ubiquity of the Internet.

FORBES: Magazine Article