My head's still spinning (and it's not because of the Stella) I just got back from the most awesome dinner with Robert Scoble, Buzz Bruggeman, Andy Ruff, Bill Daul and guest of honor, Doug Engelbart, inventor of Groupware....and the Mouse (not Mickey, but clickey)
The evening started organically (kind of like most blogs): I read that Robert was going to be in town (meaning Silicon Valley) and since I was going to be here as well, we decided to have dinner. One thing led to another and we ended up having the most stimulating conversation - a bunch of diverse folks united by a common passion centered around technology, change and the future.
Here are some of the highlights from the conversation:
(Scobelizer reports with more insight and lucid thoughts here)
- The Web (and Search) is like a giant game of "Go Fish." Think about it.
- Who is the smartest person you know? My answer: we all are
- When faced with frustration regarding trying to sell a vision and get people who "don't get it" to "get it", think about this: could society handle it if we all got it...would society be able to cope in a world where there was no resistance/push back, skepticism or widespread adoption. Society might collapse under this weight
- Augmentation versus automation (you'll have to do some research into Doug for this)
- The human race doesn't collectively go after being more knowledgable
- Frustration is a common by-product of envisioning a future - which might seem clear and obvious to you - that is not understood and therefore shared by most. We've all felt frustration - as engineers, inventors, media planners or marketers. What separates the leaders from the pack would be the ability - not so much to overcome the frustration - but to deal and come to terms with it. It is a rite of passage and an inevitable obstacle
- Concept of "evolution" (purist, vision, idealism) versus "making money" (obstacles placed in our way by management designed to perpetuate an economic prioritization and order)
A note about Robert Scoble: he is a squire and a gentleman...even though he identifies with geek. A real humble and likeable guy who is full of intense energy and vision. Robert is supercharged by his ability to turn risk into reward and his adventures in the blogosphere have not only turned around Microsoft, and perceptions of Microsoft...but have been a shining light to thousands of other bloggers and citizen journalists.
Pre-order his book, Naked Conversations, co-authored with Shel Israel.
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