The whole mindset of making something long-lasting – a product – is pretty different to a marketing mindset.
Perhaps westerners are so captivated by the idea of destructive apocalypses because we don’t have a vocabulary to understand mortality.
The Internet is part of this ongoing, species-long project we’ve been working on since we climbed down out of the trees in the savanna.
The Techno Rebels are, whether they recognise it or not, agents of the Third Wave. They will not vanish but multiply in the years ahead. For they are as much a part of the advance to a new stage of civilisation as our missions to Venus, our amazing computers, our biological discoveries, or our explorations of the oceanic depths.
— Alvin Toffler - The Third Wave (1980)
(Source: bashford)
Trends in anything aren’t about what’s technically possible so much as they’re about what matters to people.
My concern is not that the machines are going to become so smart. My concern is that they’re actually kind of dumb, and they require us to accommodate them. And that we do.
Creation is such a rush that it overwhelms other senses and makes you high. And when you’re high, everything is awesome.
Business projects are like movies. While you are pushing to launch, or driving to close the deal, or re-branding your website - while it’s happening it feels amazing. You can even start to believe that because it feels so good, the results will be good. People will love the new site design and flock to your business in record numbers. The client will give you a standing ovation after your sales pitch.
But there are bad movies. And there are failed redesigns. And lord knows there are bad sales pitches. If you can’t trust the feeling of doing, what can you trust?
We’ve noticed that the internet started off with one problem and ended up with the opposite one: too few users have become too many, not enough information has become too much.
Firms that encourage customers to talk to each other, to form affinity groups and hobby tribes, will breed smarter and more loyal customers while creating smarter products and services.
