When it comes to software development, if you profess expertise, if you pitch yourself as an authority, you’re either lying to us, or lying to yourself. In our heart of hearts, we know: the real progress is made by the amateurs. They’re so busy living software they don’t usually have time to pontificate at length about the breadth of their legendary expertise. If I’ve learned anything in my career, it is that approaching software development as an expert, as someone who has already discovered everything there is to know about a given topic, is the one surest way to fail.
Coding Horror on Amateurs
31 May 2008
29 May 2008
However, the more I ponder the issue, the more I think The Attention Crash is entirely generational. Case in point. I work in an open space with a mix of people. Some are Gen Xers like me but even more are younger - they’re Millennials. The Gen Yer’s, it seems, do a far better job of coping with massive amounts of information. It’s not uncommon for a lot of folks to be running Meebo with a dozen IM windows going at once, Facebooking, emailing and talking on the phone. And they’re productive! Those of you who have kids I am sure see the same in your home.
Micro Persuasion on Attention
28 May 2008
Perhaps these three companies really do believe that digital delivery will usher in a brand new democratic, infinite-arcade era of gaming. But let’s not kid ourselves. The reason that Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft are so excited about digital delivery is that it represents a future in which one company — them — has absolute control over the sole content distribution channel. And that’s a future we should be very worried about.
Wired on Digital Delivery
The people who create social media content; the bloggers, the twitterers, the commenters, the youtubers, the flickrers, etc, etc are doing this for a reason. Feedback. And without their content, none of these companies would have a business. So it’s time for aggregation to work two-way. You can suck it out. But you have to pump it back too.
A VC on Social Content
27 May 2008
We are challenging our prevailing notions about the most fundamental features of our world: matter, energy, space, and time. What lies ahead is truly unknown, and where the discoveries [of the Large Hadron Collider] will lead us is only a guess. But just look at the past, how our knowledge of the most fundamental has given us the incredible technology we now enjoy. I think Congress, and the governments of the world, would do well to double down on this one…
Cosmic Variance on LHC
There is no evidence *at all* that free music on the Internet is an effective (i.e. successful career building) marketing tool. There have been no blockbuster successes that have come from, for example Garageband availability. I don’t think you could even count more than a handful – if that – Internet-based artists making a living from music. I believe several of the American Idol contestants have been on indie music Internet sites, but you cannot attribute their success to the Internet.
Why Does Everything Suck on Free Music
26 May 2008
One thing to always remember is that Social Software isn’t about features, it is about users. It isn’t about one upping the competition in feature checklists it is about capturing the right audience then building an experience that those users can’t help evangelizing.
Dare Obasanjo on Social Software
However, after witnessing how a 90-character update can unleash such a torrent of concern, support and love — I now know we have nothing to fear from the atomization of conversation. Rather, it’s just the opposite. As tools get created to atomize our interactions, they provide a much easier, much faster way for us to react to the events in others’ lives.
Redeye VC on Conversation
25 May 2008
Let me ask you something in all confidence, when was the last time you felt you belonged to the community of print publications? The Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, how about USAToday? All reputable and well written/researched publications. All in the business of delivering news. Yet, even as they have opened their blogs to comments, I would be hard pressed to call many of the commenters members of a community.
Conversation Agent on Communities
24 May 2008
Back in the day, big brands used to respond to customer letters. I mean respond. Like type up a reply and send it. This is because they realized that for each person who took the time to write or type a letter, stamp it, and walk it down to the mailbox (later known as the “barrier to entry”), there must be about 10,000 people who feel exactly the same way. Today, you can send an email as easily as you can cook a Hot Pocket. Anyone can do it. So the 10,000:1 ratio or yore is more like 1:1 today.
Erik Dafforn on Customer Service