Three friends set out an a pilgrimage to silicon valley in 2004.
Things were pretty dire back then and people we’re not too sure what was next for the valley.
I think this movie benefits from its age a bit as we can reflect on what is happening now more clearly.
Check out the trailer.
I’m starting to learn a bit about chaos theory lately. What drew me to the subject was using twitter. The service is crazy chaotic, but so orderly at the same time.
I was having issues with my corporate email service provider, and after mentioning their name on twitter, the CTO responded to me within literally seconds.
Small conversations and issues on twitter can bubble to full blown blog posts and from there bubble up to full on news cycles.
Right now this community is fairly insular to the world at large, but that wont be the case forever. What happens to products when the masses are the media?
I rather like the thought evolving out of the below video. Its like the author channeled my brain, and then wrote a book about.
Watch this fascinating video to see how Piracy is the backbone of our economic history and future.
To me the oldschool is the 80s. Back then computers were just making their way into the home, I was a kid, and we had entered a time when the excessive the 60s and 70s were passe and we had come up with entirely new methods of indulgence.
But how about now? What is going to define this moment in time? As many have said in one way or or another “There truly is nothing new under the sun, its not what you’re doing its how its done.”
That is now true more than ever. I can’t speak for the whole world, but for us westerners now is the time that we start realizing that in our economy of mass production, everything is content. Not just music, blogs, and other media, but everything is content.
Cars are content, shoes are content, soft drinks are content, its all content.
I’m speaking of what is usually called intellectual property.
However, prior to now, intellectual property was great, but the average person did not have access to have all of their intellectual property applied and made into actual goods.
Today, for those who want to start manufacturing something, manufacturing is becoming closer and closer in reach.
Consider www.shawnimals.com. These guys have been working hard for a few years (i’m not so sure how many). But now they have their sketches turned into a video game, physical toys, and have their own retail front right here in Chicago.
I look forward to the idea renaissance.
A friend of mine just recently self published a book. I promptly ordered one to show my support. I think everyone of his friends and my friends should purchase the book. It wouldn’t matter if the book was 100 pages empty space and a final note ‘Gotcha!’ on the last page, I still would have purchased the book. Thankfully, the book is more than this, but again it doesn’t matter. When it comes down to it, people buy quite of few superfluous things, and if you cannot find it in yourself to by a 12 dollar book written by a good old friend, what good is money?
Almost everyone has encountered a friend, family member, or friend of a friend who has tried to sell them knives, or health products, vitamins, or girl scout cookies. Imagine if each of these instances this person had attempted to sell you something of their own personal creation. The benefits of this scenario would be great. First of all, we would all have a lot less crap in our drawers and much more to show for ourselves. I also believe it would bring about more wealth for everyone.
We must not fall into the trap and believe that our job is our identity. History remembers great individuals and great contributions. Jobs are an afterthought, a byproduct of the individual. Define yourself by creating something, and leave behind a legacy, if even a small one. The world will most likely thank you for it more than any job ever can or will.
Many times you will here from people that the key to success is hard work and perserverence. I think I can agree with this, but I have a different understanding of what it means than I had once upon a time. Hard work is about sticking to your guns inside. It isn’t about making a list and following a regimen, but on the path to success you will probably do both of those things. However, those tasks will be the result of success rather than the cause. The actions that will lead a person to success are a result of their ability to stay aligned with their end goal, and to not lose resolve when they may fall off that path momentarily.
Life is like going fishing. There is a big lake out there it is important to cast the line out there and see what you can catch. Does a fisherman consider himself a failure when the hook comes back without a fish at the end? Perhaps, but most know that they have to cast that line out again and eventually they will catch a fish. It is almost impossible to not catch a fish doing this.
What is funny is that the world is a giant lake filled with an unlimited supply of fish that will never run out. Particularly today with the advent of the internet we are not limited to the small pond or tributary or stream that flows by us. The entire world is at your fingertips to forge new relationships and bring about a dynamic existence to life that is more obvious than ever before.
We are still adjusting to this new reality. We are getting more and more comfortable with the ability to communicate without borders or limits.
I encourage everyone to contact someone they have not met before but share a common interest with. Take advantage of the opportunity that these times have afforded us.
Blogging is perhaps so powerful because it allows each individual to catalogue their thoughts, but more importantly share them with others. It is interesting that so few of us find time or purpose to blog. Its been quite some time since i’ve updated my blog and I could give various explanations as to why that is the case, but truth be told none of them would be excusable. The truth of the matter is that I believe that the act of creating is perhaps one of the greatest abilities we all possess but rarely use for ourselves. Consider how much work all of us do, time spent at school, writing reports and the like. These are all worthwhile exercises, but they are for others. I find it interesting that I can pick up a myspace blog of people that I have little in common with and find that throught their writing there is something I can appreciate, even if I disagree with them or even find what the wrote to be rubbish. The fact that they sat down and put something to digital paper in an act to admire in an of itself. Imagine if all the worlds greatest conflicts were carried out with words alone, and the winnner was merely he or she who was armed with the most powerful eloquence. I hope that I can force myself to blog on a regular basis and truly keep it real. Sometimes in a universe so amazing, it is hard to believe what is real and what is imaginary.
The official sunrise in New York City is reported to occur at 5:57 am. I will be here to see it from LaGuardia. Soon after, I will been on a plane toward Chicago, and time will nearly stop while I’m in the air.
The ‘city that never sleeps’ easily earns such a reputation. In Chicago I’m a night owl, but in New York I’m just normal. Very few places in this world can you order a sandwich at 3am and have the clerk assume you are sober.
New York is a city of extreme savvy. Subway riders can intertwine words intertwined with expletive and eloquence in a fashion that is unsurpassed anywhere.
General boarding begins…
Well, it looks like the world is awakening to something that has been happening for a long time. First I noticed Hugh MacLeod detailed the concept of The Global Microbrand back in October of ‘05. MacLeod described the concept as:
“A small, tiny brand, that “sells” all over the world.
The Global Microbrand is nothing new; they’ve existed for a while,
long before the Internet was invented. Imagine a well-known author or
painter, selling his work all over the world. Or a small whisky
distillery in Scotland. Or a small cheese maker in rural France, whose
produce is exported to Paris, London, Tokyo etc. Ditto with a violin
maker in Italy. A classical guitar maker in Spain. Or a small English firm making $50,000 shotguns.”
However, MacLeod is a savvy talking head who I expect to be aware of such trends. He is a pioneer. He existed and exists in the mainstream marketing culture, but openly acknowledges the changes that are coming. He sees the mashup between marketing/technology/culture/counterculture/art and realized we’ve got a new phenomenon on our hands.
Now it is time for the mainstream to acknowledge this once and for all, and for corporations to come up with a better strategy than simply copying the Microbrands. The signs that the concept is going mainstream can be seen in last weeks New York Times article “The Brand Underground.”
Check out the article. If you are an industry insider, and this is news to you, it might be time to make a mad dash for the train platform before it totally passes you by.
Momochicago was a good time today. Lots of smart people talking about the future of mobile computing. I feel some momentum behind all of these events and there is a snowball effect beginning to happen. Also what has been great is most of the events have been attended by some people with real clout in the industry. Christy Wyatt VP of Ecosystem Development Motorola Mobile Devices spoke at tonights momochicago meeting and was very forward thinking about the future of mobile computing. Motorola is putting money where it’s mouth is and promoting Linux as THE open platform for mobile computing. Christy did mention that Windows based portables are still very much in the picture, but that Motorola would really like to see a platform that would give developers more versatility across platforms and make good on the promises and premises that Java never fully delivered on. Interesting times we live in!
