Comments on: WWYD?

By: lcd fernseher 32

lcd fernseher 32 — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 12:12:44 +0000

I believe that the growth of journalism wins (a blessing, as I mentioned already). But how could rise by more than is a bit of “editorial control. What have the donors some control / transparency, where the money is used. It does not change Kiva comment before me.

By: Dalton Moraes

Dalton Moraes — Sat, 30 May 2009 03:01:10 +0000

In regards to the topics in your book related to Car Designers, Laboratory Researches and any designed Atoms, my thougths were related to making the designers the platform. Since companies will need to keep their “secret products” and contain the ideas within a given scope, making the Designers the platform would solve these issues. the communities (or mobs) would concentrate around the designers and provide ideas for product enhancements. It is not ideal but it would be the first step on opening the doors for the future.

By: James Thomson

James Thomson — Thu, 28 May 2009 23:58:45 +0000

Reply to Andy Freeman:

> Congrats. You’ve just described a very valuable product. Figure out how to make it for a reasonable sum and you’ve got a business.

Google is in a perfect position to provide such a product but that would likely attract more anti-trust scrutiny from the feds. It seems to me that such a product is the next logical step in the maturation of the Internet but who would be trusted to provide such a product given the potential for abuse?

> Congress wrongly thought that giving houses to people who couldn’t afford them wouldn’t have any negative consequences. Adding corruption into the system made a bad thing worse.

We could argue that particular point but I suspect neither of us would be swayed by counter-arguments. My point was more related to the large percentage (about 43% per MSN.money) of American households spending more than they make across the board (not just on home mortgages) as measured by household credit card debt (See: http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/SavingandDebt/P70581.asp)

By: Andy Freeman

Andy Freeman — Thu, 28 May 2009 22:28:46 +0000

> Some kind of automated organizing function needs to be applied to goods and services for quickly and easily selecting among all available products of a similar type based on the needs and preferences of a particular customer.

Congrats. You’ve just described a very valuable product. Figure out how to make it for a reasonable sum and you’ve got a business.

> Finally, if I may be permitted to moralize

No, you may not. And your conclusion is wrong. Congress wrongly thought that giving houses to people who couldn’t afford them wouldn’t have any negative consequences. Adding corruption into the system made a bad thing worse.

By: James Thomson

James Thomson — Thu, 28 May 2009 20:34:34 +0000

Between Soviet-style central planning and the current Internet-based marketplace anarchy a sane middle ground needs to be established. Some kind of automated organizing function needs to be applied to goods and services for quickly and easily selecting among all available products of a similar type based on the needs and preferences of a particular customer. My objection to too many choices has to do with the fact that currently each customer must do their own research for every product they are interested in to a.) find out what is available, b.) compare features among competing products, c.) select among disparate feature sets, d.) evaluate reviews by other customers, e.) search for the best deal, etc. Providing more choices only exacerbates this problem. Finally, if I may be permitted to moralize, it seems to me that providing consumers with even more reasons to consume by providing more choices of things to consume encourages the unbridled and irrational acquisitiveness that has contributed substantially to the current world financial crisis.

By: Jeff Jarvis

Jeff Jarvis — Wed, 27 May 2009 17:13:06 +0000

Couldn’t disagree more. I want to make those choices. I don’t want them made for me. I’ve seen that. it was East Berlin. After having no choice but to drink warm, flat Commie Cola, I was so happy to come across the wall and see Coke AND Pepsi. Choice is power.

By: Andy Freeman

Andy Freeman — Wed, 27 May 2009 15:53:19 +0000

> I suspect if given a poll the overwhelming majority of us would choose to have fewer but more meaningful choices in our day to day lives.

Yes, you want fewer choices. So do I. However, we don’t want the same set of fewer choices.

That’s why what we really need is not fewer choices, but better ways to manage choices, so we only have to worry about the choices that matter to us.

By: James Thomson

James Thomson — Wed, 27 May 2009 15:10:18 +0000

I have a general comment on what seems to be the basic theme of WWGD, that is turning over more responsibility and decision making to consumers. I for one think that consumers already have too many choices in too many areas which needlessly complicate our lives. It’s fine for teenagers and young adults who can spend all of their spare time in pondering what color they would like their next cell phone to be but us older adults have more important things to spend our time on–such as earning a living. Google (or similar internet companies) need to focus on providing ways to simplify our lives and relieve us of the burden of information (and needless choice) overload. I suspect if given a poll the overwhelming majority of us would choose to have fewer but more meaningful choices in our day to day lives. Choice just for the sake of choice is not a good thing.

By: David Safeer

David Safeer — Wed, 27 May 2009 14:54:35 +0000

I am on the board of directors of a choral group whose mission it is to educate and promote new choral compositions.

Two platforms come to mind:
1. A gathering place for choral music educators, including an opportunity to showcase their work
2. A place to match composers with choral groups. We want to be their premier choral organization in the United States for premiering new works and what a better we to make this happen than having people come to us?

Thanks for your mind-opening posts and book.

By: David Cohn

David Cohn — Tue, 26 May 2009 23:48:01 +0000

That is exactly the shift that Spot.Us hopes to make…

“Donors say to a non-profit, I’ll give you money but you need to focus on this or on that. The non-profit’s response (rightly so in the “old world”) is we’ll take your money, but we’re the experts on what we fund, not you. Sorry. . . .”

I think nonprofit journalism will increase (it won’t be a saving grace as you note). But the way it can increase more – is by giving up some of the editorial control. Let the donors have some control/transparency over where their money goes. That is the shift that Kiva made – as an earlier comment noted. I think all the rising nonprofit journalism ventures should experiment in letting folks decide where their money goes. Once you start letting go – it actually isn’t scary at all. Folks are smart – they tend to put it towards important stuff and they feel more connected to the finished product.

By: Joris Baas

Joris Baas — Tue, 26 May 2009 10:19:44 +0000

Hi Jeff,

Here in Amsterdam, at the other side of the Ocean, I’ve met yesterday people from http://www.favelafabric.com. They are designing with the clients users and they call it co-creation. Is that a Googly example of product development?

PS: Thanks again for your presentation at the NextwebConference here, I dived into your book afterwards.

By: What business is the Cartoon Gallery in? Part I — cartoon gallery blog

What business is the Cartoon Gallery in? Part I — cartoon gallery blog — Sun, 24 May 2009 15:57:34 +0000

[...] you for responding to my initial post with a link and a wink from Buzzmachine. It is always a pleasure to have to moderate comments, and yours being the first one on the Cartoon [...]

By: Ian Waring

Ian Waring — Sun, 24 May 2009 07:54:05 +0000

Sounds like there’s an elegant organisation to be done in a stock market for non profit funding.

Ian W.

By: Renaud

Renaud — Sun, 24 May 2009 03:40:00 +0000

Yes, KIVA is pretty good example of WWGD. http://www.wokai.org applies basically the same concept in China. Seems to be a promising “business model” for non-profits.

By: David E. Bowman

David E. Bowman — Sun, 24 May 2009 01:50:40 +0000

Jeff,

Thanks for mentioning and linking to “user generated health care” and for helping to inspire the concept with your wonderful and thought provoking book. I am deeply appreciative of your work, and plan to continue putting it to use to change the world.

David E. Bowman.

By: Mike Manitoba

Mike Manitoba — Sat, 23 May 2009 21:48:50 +0000

I think you mean “tenets,” not “tenants.”

By: Constantine Valhouli

Constantine Valhouli — Sat, 23 May 2009 19:57:41 +0000

Hi Jeff,

Thanks for the shout-out on making buildings Googly. Hammersmith delved further into this in three of our recent reports:

(a) exploring how technology can be used to enhance the experience of being in space, using some examples from some of the pioneering hotels and senior housing. We expect to see these ideas filter out into multifamily and single family homes next:

http://thehammersmithgroup.com/images/reports/tech.pdf

(b) exploring how technology, especialy RFIDs, can be used to increase ambiet findability, searchability, and reduce construction costs and increase returns.

http://thehammersmithgroup.com/images/reports/rfid.pdf

(c) And one of my favorite pieces, exploring how the convergence of smart devices, intelligent buildings, converged networks, and smart grids may provide the foundation for an Internet of Things:

http://thehammersmithgroup.com/images/reports/web4.pdf

All the best,
Constantine