Oh, I dunno. We wouldn't all be here if that were entirely true.
Now, I hate Disney's constant efforts at coopting our little pea-brains, hate it with a white-hot hate (read Hiaasen's Team Rodent: How Disney Devours the World). But still, today I think there's far more cause for faith in the individuals' chance against enormity than ever before in our history.
I agree with good ol' Esther Dyson when she said, about a million years ago, that networked minds will change human *institutions* not human *nature*. That's either good news or bad, depending on which side of the philosophical bed you roll out of each morning.
I happen to think it's good news. I think this space, here, is evidence of the power of the strength of individual minds working together over the power of corporatism.
The revolution of the individual empowered by the Web is bringing many large corporations to their knees these days. They're having to listen to what their customers actually want and think and feel for the first time. They're playing Web catchup at the moment, and it's going to consume their attention for the next year or two.
Meantime individuals who never before had voices have them. We have been given the opportunity to affect policy, set prices, determine trade protocols, meet, group, and manage the world in all sorts of ways we don't yet fully understand. But we're moving faster than they are. I'm certain of that.
The real question is, will we do it? Will we take advantage of this moment of weakness, this chink in the armor of the corporate globe, or take naps?
As for me, I'm getting kind of snoozy just thinking about it.
Weelll... Part of the reason ergonomists have a hard time recommending any particular products is because they'd really like folks to attend to their best advice: Don't sit in one position for more than two hours without getting up and moving around a little. So maybe the best ergonomic office equipment is a timer that launches a message telling you to get off your ass every now and then. Just a little movement helps a lot. I grabbed an old kitchen timer. My right elbow doesn't go to sleep any more.
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Oh, I dunno. We wouldn't all be here if that were entirely true.
Now, I hate Disney's constant efforts at coopting our little pea-brains, hate it with a white-hot hate (read Hiaasen's Team Rodent: How Disney Devours the World). But still, today I think there's far more cause for faith in the individuals' chance against enormity than ever before in our history.
I agree with good ol' Esther Dyson when she said, about a million years ago, that networked minds will change human *institutions* not human *nature*. That's either good news or bad, depending on which side of the philosophical bed you roll out of each morning.
I happen to think it's good news. I think this space, here, is evidence of the power of the strength of individual minds working together over the power of corporatism.
The revolution of the individual empowered by the Web is bringing many large corporations to their knees these days. They're having to listen to what their customers actually want and think and feel for the first time. They're playing Web catchup at the moment, and it's going to consume their attention for the next year or two.
Meantime individuals who never before had voices have them. We have been given the opportunity to affect policy, set prices, determine trade protocols, meet, group, and manage the world in all sorts of ways we don't yet fully understand. But we're moving faster than they are. I'm certain of that.
The real question is, will we do it? Will we take advantage of this moment of weakness, this chink in the armor of the corporate globe, or take naps?
As for me, I'm getting kind of snoozy just thinking about it.
Dvorak: "Listen to the pundits, and you'd think the world began when the Web arrived. "
Didn't it? What did I miss?
Weelll... Part of the reason ergonomists have a hard time recommending any particular products is because they'd really like folks to attend to their best advice: Don't sit in one position for more than two hours without getting up and moving around a little. So maybe the best ergonomic office equipment is a timer that launches a message telling you to get off your ass every now and then. Just a little movement helps a lot. I grabbed an old kitchen timer. My right elbow doesn't go to sleep any more.