Political Correctness is a tool for subversion

I think I understand Political Correctness.  It is not about the feelings of others, but it is about yet another tool of control for those who cannot win in the battleground of ideas. 

I used to battle the PC crowd, trying to leverage (as engineers do) the logic of intentions.  Often, one might inadvertantly “offend” someone when in fact the intentions were the complete opposite.  I always tend to judge others behavior towards me based on their intentions, and offer graciousness and kindness even when their best intentions might cause them to gaff.  I couldn’t understand why the PC movement could not understand this.

Now I do.  It is not about truth, nor is it about intentions.  It’s about power.  You see, when one cannot win in the battleground of ideas, and they sense a threat to their power, they find a way.  PC is just another tool in the world of the subjective that can be used to demonize an individual regardless of their intentions, or capabilities.

What is really sad is typically, it is the intolerant, unforgiving, and judgmental that use this tool… and typically it is those who are truly tolerant and inclusive that end up being the victim of PC intolerance.

 

It’s the USER stupid!

 

Once again we are caught in a flurry of new software and web services that are all about “what you can do”, not “what they can do”.  When will they learn?  When we brought Quicken to market (yes, many years ago), there were 44 financial management products already on the market.  Why add just another one to the fray?  Well, Quicken was the first of those products that was built from listening to the target customer first, understanding their pain, and offering a solution that was not about “if you are willing to do the work, here is what you can get”.  It was built for the user who is not interested in “doing the work”, that is the whole purpose of automation!!

It is no different with web services — what we call “blogging” and “social networking” today is really about a universal need and desire to stay in touch with those you care about.  Oh yes, for the few (Mr. Scoble), it is about a platform for expressing oneself and gaining notoriety, but nobody is going to make it in the long run with tools for Mr Scoble and friends.  It is about the unwashed masses, the 50 million in the U.S., hundreds of millions internationally, that are not going to spend time trying to maintain a website (no matter how easy Vista tries to make it).  They just want to keep up with each other, and want it to come easily, automatically, and ideally, as an unintended consequence of their actions today. 

My wife knows nothing about social networking.  She does not see the web as anything but a utility — email, maps, information, commerce — it has nothing to do with “cool”, and everything to do with “life”.  She downloads photos for printing, pure utility.  She reads email, because it is an essential function for life today.  She is on the internet at least 5 hours a week.  That is 5 hours interacting with a BROWSER, 5 hours of opportunity.   Who is going to “fill in the blanks” for her? 

Oh yes, she desires what Web 2.0 could do for her — but that’s the whole point, will it “do it for her?”

Not today. 

 

Web 2.0 is for 2.0% of the population

 

Will Web2.0 learn the lesson that was taught by iTunes and Palm?  Until services can be simplified, messaged, and purpose built (vertical) for the mass audience, they will do no more than serve the clique that they serve today.

Those Web2.0 neocons that are actively using undocumented services like del.icio.us, and others, take such pride in knowing all the 2.0 acronyms and terminology.  They revel with each other on self glorifying forums purpose built for those who need to be “different” from the mass population.  Afterall, they “get it”.

Well… “getting it”, in my view, is when you get the cash.  Palm and iTunes did that by building the devices and services for the mass of the population that doesn’t “get it”.  You see, when you can reach those who don’t “get it”, that’s when you really “get it”.

Go get some!

 

ummm…

Example: 1. Open the Tools menu and choose Shelf. 2. Drag interesting URLs, pictures or text snippets from any web page onto the shelf. 3. Click the Blog Editor icon (that looks like a feather pen). 4. Drag items from the Shelf into your blog post.

Flock

 Yeah.. it would be nice if there were actually a “shelf” menu item under Tools.  Okay, it’s pre-beta

 

Darth the Sillious

TV- 1 on Flickr – Photo Sharing!

 

 Okay, not as intimidating as I hoped.. but really, it looks much cooler in real life.

 

3 boys

Okay,

I have 3 boys, and they couldn’t be more different.  Those who do not have kids, and care to share an opinion on “nature vs. nurture” just don’t have any credibility.  It is not a theoretical exercise.

My boys have been raised pretty much the same, but they could not be more different in intellect, persona, likes/dislikes, and general view of the world.  It is truly amazing, and you learn to absolutely love and appreciate each of them.  It’s like diversity training at home.

 

Wet Feet

Or is it cold feet?

Ok, so I have resisted with all my might getting involved in the blogging world.  I read em, and I comment on em… but I refused to write one.  Well, here it is, and this will probably be the start of something that everyone will regret.

 Web2.0 — will it be the latest in another round of unmontetizeable services, for which a lucky few are acquired by the big guys who just gotta have it?  Or will monetization become a reality? 

Well.. all I can say is who cares — great services are being created (www.flickr.com – www.wordpress.com  www.del.icio.us.com) , and great tools to manage those services are emerging.  see www.flock.com for an example.   Whether monetized or not, these services are forever changing how people interact, transact, and express themselves. 

One thing I do know is that behind every social network, lies transactions, and services like www.paypal.com will always benefit when more people manage more of their life online.  think about it… all our relationships, all our social networks, end up driving transactions.