DJCline.com » Commentary

Jul. 25, 2010 Blumbers

dj — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 21:39:41 +0000

Selling The Kool Aid

There is going to be a movie about Facebook called “The Social Network.” Social networking is so mainstream that it is has a Hollywood movie about it. Please remember it is not a documentary. Still, I wonder if people in this business are selling the Kool Aid but not drinking it.

I met the head of one social networking company that apparently doesn’t use it himself for business. We exchanged phone numbers. It seemed like meeting a tobacco lobbyist that did not smoke or a Microsoft executive with an Apple iPhone. It was a realization that meeting people in person still works best.

Dennis Nishi in a July 20, 2010 Wall Street Journal article titled “Improving the Odds for Changing Jobs” said “Keep requests off social networking websites like Facebook and LinkedIn – they can be indexed by search engines and discovered by anyone, including your current boss.” What is the point of these sites if you can’t network to find jobs? It is to gather personal information and find ways to make money from the people who join. Social networking executives don’t seem to really use it themselves.

Protected: July 31, 2010 Type Daddy’s Name

dj — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 22:06:26 +0000

Jul. 18, 2010 Blumbers

dj — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 21:44:02 +0000

Over The Wall

There is a technology trend toward what they call “The Walled Garden.” Companies want to capture every customer dollar in a closed environment. If the garden meets their every need then everything is fine, but what if they don’t know what their missing?

One of the joys of being a hunter gatherer in the information age is finding the unexpected. Amazon may have a profile of you that can recommend books you might like, but nothing beats going through a real bookstore and finding something totally unrelated that interests you.

By their very nature closed systems have fewer surprises, unpleasant or otherwise. The problem is that any single garden can never be enough. The winds of change will invariably bring seeds from weeds over the wall into the garden. You have to know what is going on beyond your comfort zone.

It is those little moments where the future comes at you sideways that you have to look out for.

This concludes my Chauncey Gardener moment.

Note: Time to take things up a notch.

“Ridicule is powerful, and difficult to deflect.” -John Gruber

Jul. 11, 2010 Blumbers

dj — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 21:42:42 +0000

Reading Tom Foremski’s book “In My Humble Opinion” makes me think about what steps to take next. I’m looking through years of pretty amazing stuff. You can see where breakthroughs and meaningful events led to big changes. The question is how to condense it into a story. What is the overall message of what I have seen?

On another note, I have to say I am unable to cover every event that I am invited to. I will try to consider them on as we go along. The criteria is still evolving.