Jadimauro’s Weblog

Essentially I liked what the article about wikinomics had to say, I think that they are right in many of their statements about the fact that if people do not act quickly there will soon be an enormous gap between those who can function in the world and society and those who can not. Here’s a quote that I really enjoyed that describe the idea that many will be left behind, “Harness the new collaboration or perish.” I think that wikinomics has the right mind set and because it concentrates on wealth and knowledge. These are two things that I don’t think previously would have always gone together well or at all. The general idea is that by collaborating you will be able to expand knowledge and also create greater profits.

Another idea that I really enjoyed in this reading was the fact that they talked about how wikinomics is essentially an “ode to the power of “the masses”….” It is essentially a consumer driven world and with motivated and innovated people getting involved there might actually be change in the world. I feel like the general consensus before the connectivity of the world was that how can I make a change or how can one person make a change. But I think the idea is still the same one person can make change but one person involved with a whole other network of people attempting to make change, can.

I do agree with the other side on some points Lanier talked about the “anonymous tide of mediocrity” and I do agree that it is hard to distinguish individuals and the really informative and ingenious ideas might possibly get lost somewhere. But I think that is one consequence that will just have to be accepted and the ideas will speak for themselves. I also think that this idea that they have throughout this chapter about making governments more open is such a utopian idea that it will never happen. I think that the idea that it will make more governments more accountable is completely off base. This could be the cynic in me but I think that the one thing that will not change throughout this great change in society is government. Like Nelson last week I feel like this Utopian idea of people taking the bull by the horns and having initiative to make change might be off base. It’s a really nice idea to think that people really are motivated but I think that they might be a little bit off with that idea.

I feel like the hardest things for businesses in this new world will be to walk a thin line between giving away just enough of your secrets without totally giving away your business. I think that to some this can be scary but I think this quote sums it up pretty well “One thing that has not changed is that winning organizations (and societies) will be those that tap the torrent of human knowledge and translate it into new and useful applications.”

With the wealth of networks it also talks about humans being inherently motivated beings. Then it says “most opportunities to make things …..were constrained by the physical capital requirements of making them.” With this statement I began to think that my skepticism about the individual being motivated might be a condition that was learned because prior to this age maybe we couldn’t create things of value so what was the point of being motivated. And I understand that this is a new world and maybe we can get back to being motivated individuals but I think that many people are still in the mindset that they can’t make things of value and I think that is something that will take many years to change.

The internet democratizing the world is interesting and takes it almost a step further than wikinomics. “The agenda thus can be rooted in the life and experience of individual participants in society…” I think this brings a focus back on to the individual, which I think this is where everything is leading. Society has become so about the masses today and it is somewhat stifling to the individual if the internet really does what this book is suggesting then I think more attention on the individual. Which I think will help people become more motivated because it will be important to what individuals have to say.

Sociable Media brings up a good point that although some of the things like email that we use to communicate now were not necessarily designed for what we use them for now we inherently need to communicate with one another and will find whatever means necessary to do so. Our desire for communication has been made so much easier through all of this.

I think that if you bring all of these thoughts together you might get a big mess but they all lead to the fact that the world is changing wether it be through the way we communicate, the way businesses are run, or the way our government is run. I think that the most important thing is that to continue to be a part of this world wide society we have to be willing to adapt and we have to be willing to change along with the technology. We have to keep ourselves constantly updated on new technology and not allow ourselves to be too settled on one type of technology or one way of doing things. The world is going through a radical change and I think that we definitely need to ride this wave of change and I think businesses and individuals that miss the wave will drown.