Having just finished Roger’s “Elements of Diffusion,” I decided to revisit The Cluetrain Manifesto (Punching Care Bears and Cluetrain Eats Soggy Cheerios). Rogers points out that innovations typically don’t happen quickly, regardless of how great the innovation is. Cluetrain’s authors, however, passionately make the argument that there is a revolution in the air and the market is changing due to innovations in the internet and its affect on hierarchies between and within markets and audiences.
I guess I am wondering why Cluetrain’s authors felt the change would happen so powerfully, and how quick was the diffusion of the innovative use of the internet in the market — be it business, classrooms, or other educational environments.
Today’s world and communities are designed around instant gratification. Food can be prepared and consumed in seconds through fast food and microwaves.Trivial information is immediately accessible, thanks to Google, Wikipedia, and smart phones like the iPhone. TV shows, music, and movies are seconds away thanks to iTunes and Zune, for the two people in the world who use it. Communication with a friend has progressed from a handwritten letter delivered by pony to delivery by truck to telegraph to telephone to answering machines to cell phones and email to text messages and twitter (still not buying into it). What took as long as weeks to deliver via pony express now takes seconds thanks to texting and twitter. Your network is always instantly accessible; you don’t even have to wait for them to return home to hear your message! Even coaches in sports are expected to win NOW!
If instant gratification is so much a part of our culture’s design, it is easy to understand the immediacy and passion behind The Cluetrain Manifesto. But is accurate or reflective of the way innovation works? Is there a way to change this design, or is it even necessary?
I intend to post this now. It frustrates me when my internet connection takes 4 seconds to do so!
Related Articles
No user responded in this post