http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/21/books/21mash.html
Really good article on the challenges facing online content and media, as well as the impact of those challenges on, well, all of us. The handful of books referenced seem worthwhile as well, I have already read Jaron Lanier's "You Are Not a Gadget" and I highly recommend it.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Monday, March 15, 2010
The fundamental human benefit of the Web
As a follow up to the previous posting:
The Web empowers individuals to rapidly achieve innovations while reducing dependencies and removing barriers.
And while this may not encourage "team spirit," what it does do is free innovators, creators and thinkers to move at speeds previously unimagined. No longer constrained by middle managers who covet information as means of consolidating power; weighed down and slowed down by forced collaboration with mediocre performers (when was the last time you were in a brainstorming session where no one played devil's advocate and everyone offered real ideas and suggestions without fear of being ridiculed?); managed by superiors who either claim credit for efforts not their own or who claim vast improvements of quality by making trivial changes, the Web removes market boundaries, provides access to highly skilled but reasonably-priced resources, and allows for entire companies and brands to be built overnight merely by creating a well designed, thoughtful and information-rich online presence.
Now this may lead to more frequent job changes for these folks, expected or unexpected, but in the long run, a small price to pay for great leaps in innovation.
There is another risk — just because something is innovative is no guarantee that anyone will want it enough to pay for it. But I'll save that topic for another day.
The Web empowers individuals to rapidly achieve innovations while reducing dependencies and removing barriers.
And while this may not encourage "team spirit," what it does do is free innovators, creators and thinkers to move at speeds previously unimagined. No longer constrained by middle managers who covet information as means of consolidating power; weighed down and slowed down by forced collaboration with mediocre performers (when was the last time you were in a brainstorming session where no one played devil's advocate and everyone offered real ideas and suggestions without fear of being ridiculed?); managed by superiors who either claim credit for efforts not their own or who claim vast improvements of quality by making trivial changes, the Web removes market boundaries, provides access to highly skilled but reasonably-priced resources, and allows for entire companies and brands to be built overnight merely by creating a well designed, thoughtful and information-rich online presence.
Now this may lead to more frequent job changes for these folks, expected or unexpected, but in the long run, a small price to pay for great leaps in innovation.
There is another risk — just because something is innovative is no guarantee that anyone will want it enough to pay for it. But I'll save that topic for another day.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
The fundamental business benefit of the Web
It empowers the individual while reducing the burden on the enterprise.
Fundamental to the World Wide Web is the ability to provide anyone anywhere instant access to information, processes, tools and resources. This empowers individuals by helping them learn more quickly; think faster on their feet; improvise, improve and produce better results; and generally be more productive and self-sufficient.
And, while the same information, processes, tools and resources are accessed by many different people over time, the cost to the enterprise to define and disseminate occurs only once. And, once processes, information and resources are captured, organized and distributed, the enterprise can operate more efficiently — and more profitably.
Fundamental to the World Wide Web is the ability to provide anyone anywhere instant access to information, processes, tools and resources. This empowers individuals by helping them learn more quickly; think faster on their feet; improvise, improve and produce better results; and generally be more productive and self-sufficient.
And, while the same information, processes, tools and resources are accessed by many different people over time, the cost to the enterprise to define and disseminate occurs only once. And, once processes, information and resources are captured, organized and distributed, the enterprise can operate more efficiently — and more profitably.
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