Scott Berkun's Blog, page 93
March 25, 2010
Quote of the week
"There are two things that have been true throughout history in big hunks. You can find differences in ten years, but in 50 year hunks, 100 years hunks, you'll find two things to be true. One, the world is always getting better. Two, people always think it's getting worse."
Penn Gillette, From the film Examined Life
March 23, 2010
Need a word for an interesting idea
Was talking today with someone about this:
A movie comes out (Movie X) and is very influential. Many other filmmakers copy the style or the elements of the story, making films Y and Z.
If you see Y and Z first, and then see X, X seems derivative, even though it is the originator of the ideas. If you didn't know the backstory, you'd think X was a knock-off, even though it's the source.
Anyone know a term for this? Prestige Inversion? Creative Inversion? Looking for suggestions.
March 19, 2010
quote of the week
Couldn't sleep the other night and watched Examined Life, a film about philosophy. Half of the philosophers interviewed in the film were predictably obtuse and stiff as philosophers often are, but the other half all said things that shook me up and rattled my mind.
I'd heard of Cornell West before, but honestly didn't think much of him from the sound bytes I'd seen (and his involvement with the philosophically muddy Matrix trilogy). But he offered this impromptu monologue in the back seat of a...
March 18, 2010
Help w/ new edition of Myths of Innovation
Currently I'm in talks with O'Reilly Media about releasing an updated version of The Myths of Innovation in paperback some time this year.
I have a few obvious things to take care of:
Correct these errata
Add a chapter on applying the lessons from the chapters to projects
But I wanted to make sure to ask what else I should consider adding to the book.
Mind you, this is not a complete overhaul, but I'm happy to update/add/enhance the book with a few new sections as part of the paperback...
How I make a living: in detail
In a series of posts, called reader's choice, I write on whatever topics people submit and vote for. If you dig this idea, let me know if the comments, and submit your ideas and votes.
This week, the topic is: how do you manage your business as a speaker, author and consultant.
For starters, some of this is covered in chapter 3 of Confessions of a Public Speaker, which you can read free online here.
I view my primary business as writing books. It's primarily the writing of good books ...
Help me celebrate my 1000th post
Hey folks – I'm on the homestretch to 1000 posts. This is officially #985.
I'm still looking for ideas for what to do to celebrate, or reward all you people for reading for so long :)
Please let me know if you have ideas for what to do.
If you'd like to simply suggest something for me to write about, go here.
March 17, 2010
Cloud Computing is a bad metaphor
At a certain point you hear a name for something so many times it looses any real meaning. It's just a name. Kleenex, as a word, doesn't mean anything. Neither does Häagen-Dazs. But over time words just become labels and we forget their origins or initial meanings.
But in the case of Cloud Computing, I'm still stuck on what an awful metaphor it is for anything.
Clouds are fleeting. They don't last long.Clouds are vague and open to wide interpretation. No one sees the same thing when they look...How UX can get anything they want
I'm a fan of the unconventional view that most people, most of the time, worry about the wrong things.
When it comes to the world of UX, designers, usability engineers, and the rest, they tend to complain about how little power they have, but spend little time doing skill development in how to gain influence and power. The average designer or IA would be better served by going to a sales conference and learning sales and pitching skills, than going to yet another design event. They're...
March 15, 2010
Discount: The Economist Innovation Event, March 23/24
There are still a few seats left for The first ever event on Innovation run by The Economist magazine.
It's quite the roster of speakers: Arianna Huffington, Ray Kurzweil, John Kao, Paul Saffo, Jared Diamond, Robert Reich, John Perry Barlow and more (including yours truly)
There is a 10% discount offered to all of the speakers which I can pass on to you.
When: March 23/24, 2010
Where: Berkeley, CA
Cost: $1500, with 10% discount it's $1350
Discount code: SPKR
March 12, 2010
The cult of busy
When I was younger I thought busy people were more important than everyone else. Otherwise why would they be so busy? I had busy bosses, busy parents, and always I just thought they must have really important things to do. It seemed an easy way to see who mattered and who didn't. The busy must matter more, and the lazy mattered less.
This is the cult of busy. That simply by always seeming to have something to do, we all assume you must be important or successful.
It explains the behavior of...
