Practical Wisdom, Quotes, Sayings

Clearly, Shakespeare could have been talking about Google Apps and multi-user applications of old like client server applications and, dare I say it, mainframes of yore.

SONNET 59
If there be nothing new, but that which is
Hath been before, how are our brains beguiled,
Which, labouring for invention, bear amiss
The second burden of a former child.
O, that record could with a backward look,
Even of five hundred courses of the sun,
Show me your image in some antique book,
Since mind at first in character was done!
That I might see what the old world could say
To this composed wonder of your frame;
Whether we are mended, or whe'er better they,
Or whether revolution be the same.
O, sure I am, the wits of former days
To subjects worse have given admiring praise.

It's interesting to note that, for many years before web browsers, we had incredibly robust applications that delivered way more robust behavior than their browser based counterparts.  So few web based applications are actually designed well, though the technology finally allows similarly robust behavior.  For a time, when GUI applications were the rage and were replacing CHUI apps, we came up with certain standards.  Studies were done to see what worked best for people with keyboard and mouse.  Then, the craze to more all GUI's to HTML based browsers applications sent the GUI back to the stone ages and another 10 years of relearning what we already painstakingly learned and mastered... and forgot.

It's funny, people used to criticize the centralization of computing power as an assault on individual liberties and an attempt to control all the data.  So, people demanded their own contact manager with their own information in it.  They demanded privacy, passwords, encryption, PGP.

Now, watch out!  Thar's a new mainframe in town...GOOGLE!  And ALL YOUR APPLICATIONS can now run in Google's Cloud!  Is that something like Heaven?

Now, as a Technology snob of sorts, I had as much historically fashionable disdain for Microsoft as the next guy, but they did sell some pretty good applications, a very few with model GUI's.  But their centralization of the operating system was derided by all as an undesirable monopoly.  MS even fought hard (invested hundreds of millions) to keep Apple on it's feet when they got shaky so they would not incur the wrath of the FTC before Apple reinvented communication with the iPhone.

But, let me tell you, Having been around since the IBM XT computer, and living through periods of time when the Microsoft motto was "DOS is not done until Lotus won't run," I have to admit that it just gets dizzying to see the constant reinvention of the same thing over and over and over.  It's like it's not software any more... it's a recursive metaphor that keeps replicating itself in seemingly newer / better incarnations, but yielding the same outcome at the human level.

And isn't that just IT! (double entendre intended)  Perhaps we really do need a new MML - Metaphor Markup Language.  A structured way to document behavioral and thought based processes and systems designed by humans.  What would that look like?  I wonder?

<metaphor>
  <premise>carry everyone's contact information with me</premise>
  <goal>easy storage mechanism</goal>
  <goal>easy retrieval</goal>
  <goal attr="false">Overcome faulty memory - It's so hard to remember them all</goal>
  <!-- related similes -->
  <manifest>the rings of a tree remember the seasons</manifest>
  <manifest>a steel trap</manifest>
  <manifest>an elephant never forgets</manifest> 
  <implementation>Monks record in books</implementation>
  <implementation>Printing Press</implementation>
  <implementation>Computer</implementation>
  <implementation>Cell Phone</implementation>
  <implementation>iPhone</implementation>
  <implementation>Bluetooth Implant</implementation>
</metaphor>  

It's a start.  We document the idea and related goals.  Then we document Alternative natural manifestations of similar phenomenon, and human implementations of the same thing over and over again.  Voila!

Now, clearly, some things are better now than ever before.  Or are they?  Do you know that I used to be able to actually fix every part of my car?  Now, every part of my car is computer controlled, even the starter...from an earth orbiting satellite!  But it's still a car.  And now the mechanics can't even fix it!  They just plug a computer into the computer, er.. car, and it tells them what to replace.  They don't even have to think about it.

And yes, my current computer is light years ahead of my old XT (yes, I had one).  It's faster and I can run lots of applications and visit the uber connected info-sphere in my browser.  The Galactic Imperium library at my fingertips!  I agree, that's super.

Then, why do I still feel just like the human I was with my XT?  I still talk to family and friends, want and give love, eat 3 meals a day, laugh, cry and sleep.  All the information is just so much of the same recursive metaphor now in full color digitally rendered in breathtaking 3D!  Simply fantastic!

But what good is an uber library and the best new applications when life is life?  After a while, everyone seeks inwardly for...something...peace? Love?  We are the ultimate metaphors.  We are a self-simulating simulation of ourselves.  We indulge in thought as if thinking were life and the more information we tap into and try to control, the more we mean...the more we be.  To be or not to be?

Then, we realize that it's not about the uber library at all.  It's simply about breathing, being, loving and connecting with other people, smiling and laughing, making music, singing, dancing, playing games with others, interacting, working, building real things and even building imaginary things.  But, it's about viscerally feeling life in your bones.

We can pretty up all the metaphors, make newer labor, thought or memory saving devices with prettier screens, more, better, bigger, smaller, but, at the end of the day, it's the simple satisfaction with a day well lived on the planet with other people that gives us meaning beyond the metaphor.

And, not to put too fine a point on it, but that's why social media is the phenomenal quintessential computer application of our time. The application that allows us to connect and share our lives (and our thoughts) with others and instantly interact.  But never forget, you don't NEED a computer, or Google, or anything else to be a human being or to be connected.  It's nice to have, but it does not define who and what you are.

You have to do that for yourself.  When you do, Tweet about it and get on Facebook and post your self awareness to your status, and go ahead and leave some humorous comments that will make your friends laugh and see the lighter side of life!

While books are excellent places to bind information up for others to use when they want to read, they don't really do anything in particular by themselves.  Information in books is static.  But Information in USE is LIVING.  We're creating a new way to learn about Social Media so people can learn how to use it to participate more fully in life.  And Social Media can amplify all areas of life - from personal to business.

I came across this really excellent video that talks about the profoundly transformational impact Social Media can have on business.  Enjoy!

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When the web was first created by DARPA (no, it was NOT Al Gore), they wanted to create a new way to collaborate on research projects.  People in government and university settings used it to communicate on research and educational projects.There were no web browsers in those days.  But this was the beginning of email and file sharing (FTP).

Information Linked to Information

One day, a researcher a CERN had an idea.  He wanted to use the system to create a way that would allow one document to be linked to another, thereby creating a "web" of information that cross references itself.  That was the beginning of the world wide web as we know it.  It created Information linked to information using a new protocol called HTML and the first web browsers were born to display these documents.

People Linked to Information - Information sharing

Once the information was created and linked to itself, the natural inclination was to help people more easily find the documents.  So, the web created directories and bookmarking and indexing and search engines to facilitate sharing.  These were ways to make it easier for people to share good information with others.  Yahoo was the first generation of search engine and it's success was a reflection of people's insatiable appetite for information.

People Linked to People - Social Media

The most recent step in the evolution of the web has led to what we now call "Social Media." Social Media is the transcendence of Information management and Information sharing. We are now in the realm of using technology to expand not just information, but our lives and our lifestyles.

Marshall McLuhan said that the Medium is the Message.  In the case of the medium's first incarnation, the message was, Share your research.  The second incarnation's message was Organize your information.  The third incarnation's message was Share your Information.  The latest incarnation, however, gets us past information.  What then is the message now?

The message of Social Media is "Participate in Life."  You can share your thoughts and interests, what makes you happy, sad, excited, motivated.  You can participate in and create communities of friends, business associates, family, common interests, and anything else that you like.  Now, it's about people.  Information is secondary.  Information may be the water in which those people swim, but it's not about the information - it's about what's being created by people as a group.

Social Media Implications

The most significant implication is the movement away from just Googling (simply looking for information) to Participation (using information in the course of Living).  Information in an of itself is of no value unless it's put to use.  We humans use information in the course of participation in life.  That's why libraries are both so important, and of no value unless their contents are put to use by people in life.

The message, Participate in Life, then, implies ongoing interaction between people and groups.  People may participate simply for fun, or they may have goals.  Every facet of life is about participation.  One does not Live alone in this world, and we now have a medium that reflects this reality as it's message.  LIVE!  Have FUN!

How Do I Participate in Social Media Life?

We've all heard of Facebook and Twitter.  These are almost synonymous with Social Media themselves. Using them is a start.  There are important things to realize, though, about social media.  When you go to a party, there are basic rules of etiquette.  You don't go into a black tie event in jeans.  You dress appropriately.  You don't discuss business all the time.  You make small talk.

With Social Media comes the complexities of human social interaction and these things can not be ignored.  That's one of the reasons we put together our Social Media training course.  We've designed it to help you to not be the sales dork at the party.  If you'd like to know more about this, my company, 7 Peaks, is offering a special social media training course designed for sales forces to teach them to use social media to build relationships and trust first, and to expand business as a natural, not forced, result.