I think the thing that struck me most was the comment made by Peter Hirshberg when he compared technology companies to religion or politics. In summary, he said that tech entrepreneurs tell us what they are going to do and then in many ways convince us that we need their product and then go build it. As a buy side analyst that invests in technology companies for a living, I can totally relate to this comment. I have sat with many a CEO and wondered what in the world they were thinking giving their pitch. I must admit, I even once told a CEO "either you are lying to me or you are an idiot, either way I don't plan to invest in your company". I got up and walked out after fifteen minutes. I don't say that to tell you how great of a one liner I had in ripping a CEO (I was right by the way!), but to give another example of an executive in this case selling his vision to me when it wasn't fully vetted. That being said, I have seen and made a lot of money in companies that enable the Internet and social media. Companies like Digitas, aQuantive, and Macromedia I owned when they were bought by larger tech and media companies (I thought the CEO at Adobe was going to lose his lunch when I asked him when they would buy Macromedia. Three months later the press release came out). I have made a lot of money investing in RedHat, Arm, and Macrovision and many many more. That being said, I remember sitting with Marc Andreesen over desert and thinking he was crazy as he was espousing the virtues of Twitter. I couldn't figure out the business model! Oh well, you can't be right on them all. That being said, I have had similar thoughts that Mr. Carr presented in his article. I work with the youth at our church in my free time (no I don't have any, but my wife and I still enjoy working with them), I have seen the inability to focus, thoughts that sputter, the need for instant gratification. I do believe there are great efficiency being created, buy I worry about deep thought. Will it happen, can it happen? Can we focus long enough to develop a full thought? Do we need to anymore? We "joke" about this at the investment firm I work at. We have morphed into such an egalitarian society, we don't believe in the excellence that one human being can create. Exceptional-ism is viewed negatively now. Some of the commentary around social media talks about the benefit of the collective individual. Each person adding their part to the collective work. We have always seen and benefited from collective work of individuals. I firmly believe that. But are we losing the desire to have an exceptional individual drive change? Some would say we are making it easier. My concern though is that if you look at the things that generate the most traffic, they aren't exceptional works. They are things like Gangnam Style. So, I see the huge benefits in connectivity. But my biggest concern is are we getting dumber as we move further and further into a post paper culture. Can we think? Really think? Will the collective really build better "things" than an exceptional thinker. If I look at Apple, it doesn't happen without Steve Jobs. If you consider Facebook (probably the greatest example of social media), it doesn't happen without Zuckerberg. So, I will end with a few questions, not an answer, do we still need exceptional human beings who are deep thinkers, does social media allow those individuals to still develop, and are the benefits of social media worth the risk? Don't be confused, my nine year old uses Instagram, and she is already complaining her friends have moved on... but I still have my reservations. |
Sunday, July 21, 2013
Reflections on my first group of readings...
I was able to read and listen to a number of the articles and presentations/interviews. Below is the list of media I reviewed
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