Markets as conversations

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I found this on Denise Howell’s weblog (Bag and Baggage). I’m unclear on whether these are her thoughts or David Weinberger but it doesn’t matter.

“The Bubble was never what the Internet was about. The Web is not primarily a commercial space, not even primarily an information space. The interest is not there because 800 million people woke up and suddenly decided they wanted to be research librarians. The bubble went away, but the Web absolutely didn’t. The Web remains interesting and important. Nobody would have said a few years ago we’d have 20 billion pages on the Web. It’s not just markets that are conversations, it’s businesses themselves.”

If lawyers are disbarred…

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“If lawyers are disbarred and clergymen defrocked, doesn’t it follow that electricians can be delighted, musicians denoted, cowboys deranged, models deposed (and eventually disfigured) and dry cleaners depressed? Laundry workers could decrease, eventually becoming depressed and depleted! Even more, bedmakers will be debunked, baseball players will be debased, landscapers will be deflowered, bulldozer operators will be degraded, organ donors will be delivered, the BVD company will be debriefed, and even musical composers will eventually decompose. As a student, I spent all my time wishing to be detested and degraded.”

— 3Bruces

No harm, no foul.

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I am embarrassed that John Ashcroft is from Missouri. And if all the radio stations in America want to stop playing my CD, well, tough shit. My dislike for the guy goes back to the mid-eighties when he was governor of Missouri. In those days there was an annual fund-raising basketball game between folks in the governor’s office and members of the capital press corps. I got invited because I worked for a statewide, radio news network.

When we got to the gym we learned that the governor had salted his team with a few good men from the Missouri State Highway Patrol. But it was all for a good cause so what’s a few ringers? It stopped being fun when the governor started throwing elbows and whining about getting fouled. If you’ve played much pick-up ball, you’ve run into guys like this. They get pissed real easy. Call lots of fouls but bitch if you call one on them. If we’d been on a playground, someone would have knocked him on his ass. But he knew –and we knew– that wasn’t an option in this game. Looking back, Reverend Ashcroft is the perfect guy to go to DC, cover up the naked statues, and keep an eye on everyone. I think the year was 1984.

MSN Direct on your watch

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Beginning this fall, Microsoft plans to offer a new wireless information and messaging service that will run on evolving smart watch devices. The software company’s MSN Direct division says the service, which costs $9.95 a month, is geared to deliver customized information to a new category of watches. MSN Direct said the service would provide consumers with information including news, weather, sports scores, stock quotes, movies, dining, and games. Microsoft is expected to leverage some of its original content and existing media licensing arrangements in order to provide the data for the wireless watch information service. [InternetNews.com]

20 Years at Learfield

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I started working for Learfield Communications on June 4th, 1984. When that rolls around again it will The Big 20. Annother one of those “ends in zero” anniversaries. I kept all of my pre-computer calendars (Day-At-A- Glance, Day Timers,etc). That first month it was one of those desk blotter/month calendars. Lots of memories. On my first day, my predecessor –Jeff Smith– presented me with a list of projects-in-progress. An interesting snap-shot of the regional, radio network business in 1984. We were trying to get programming cleared in Kansas City and St. Louis. We called them “custom casts” and they worked for a while. We organized a series of debates between the candidates for governor (we fucked up the broadcast). We cooked up a statewide public opinion poll that got us a lot of ink (not all good). But my favorite project was a series of daily, one-hour talk shows featuring shills for various associations. On Monday, somebody from the Missouri Chiropractors Association; on Tuesday an optomotrist; on Wednesday a podiatrist; etc. Station managers just laughed at me. Rule One: Don’t let commissioned sales reps cook up your programming. Looking back, I must say I’m surprised how little our networks have changed. For some reason, I’m reminded of something Charlie Warner said. Your method of distribution defines the nature of your business. That was true back in the days of land-lines and analog satellite distribution and it’s sill true as we move more and more content to the web. Maybe it’s all about band-width. Radio stations have a bunch and you can move a lot of data over those frequencies. Factor in that those frequencies are rare commodities, granted by the FCC. No competition. Fast forward to a world where any DJ/reporter/entertainer/you-name-it can reach an audience. New ball game?