Speakers in the News »

1/13/06
JAMES SUROWIECKI

In the current issue of the New Yorker, award-winning author James Surowiecki contributes an insightful piece about the myth of job instability. While he contends that people don't tend to switch jobs more now than they did in previous generations, "the risk exposure of anyone unfortunate enough to lose a job has soared. People who are unemployed stay unemployed, on average, about fifty per cent longer now than they did in the seventies, and only about half as many receive unemployment insurance as did so in 1947. Furthermore, the explosion in health-care costs means that the consequences of forfeiting company health insurance are graver than ever. So even though incomes have risen over the past three decades, they fluctuate much more than they once did. Economists estimate that income volatility is about twice what it was in the early seventies." At the 2006 SXSW Interactive Festival, Suroweicki will talk about theory that multi-faceted group-based organizations (such at the Internet) are smarter than individuals, as put forth in his acclaimed book "The Wisdom of Crowds".

10:46am CST | +

1/12/06
BRUCE STERLING

We have seen the future and it is Chinese. Or so says noted author / thinker Bruce Sterling in a continuing State of the World 2006 online conversation with Jon Lebkowsky, as posted on the WELL. Remarks Sterling, "I know it's spooky, but this isn't anything compared to what's coming down the pike. Yeah, I spent a year teaching design. The top issue in the industrial design field is that everything 'industrial' is going to China. This isn't brute labor these Chinese are up to; basically, they're working their way out of Communism. This new industrial revolution the Chinese are having dwarfs anything the Chinese have ever done before. The transformation is swift and colossal." Both Sterling and Lebkowsky are scheduled to participate in the 2006 SXSW Interactive Festival.

11:23am CST | +

1/11/06
JASON KOTTKE

Die-hard Apple enthusiasts are still buzzing over Steve Jobs' keynote speech yesterday at MacWorld. More neutral observers face the inevitable realization that the shiny new computer they recently purchased has now been made relatively obsolete by Apple's latest technology. This sentiment is best expressed by Jason Kottke in a fictious letter to the company's tech support department: "Hello," he writes, "I purchased a new Powerbook three weeks ago. It was working fine until a few hours ago when you announced the new Intel-powered MacBook Pro at MacWorld and I started to cry. 'Four to fives times faster,' I sobbed, 'a built-in iSight, and a brighter, wider screen.' My display, while not as bright or large as the new MacBook Pro display, illuminated my wet cheeks and red, swollen eyes as my tears rained down on the backlit keyboard. An acrid smell rose up from inside the smooth metal machine as my salty tears joined with the electronics, joyfully releasing the electrons from their assigned silicon pathways to freely arc into forbidden areas of the computer and elsewhere, including, somewhat painfully, my hands. Is this covered under my warranty and if so, can you send me a new MacBook Pro as a replacement, please? Thank you for your time." Kottke will be part of the March 12 Keynote Conversation (with dooce.com's Heather Armstrong) at the 2006 SXSW Interactive Festival.

10:01am CST | +

1/10/06
JASON FRIED

Read the comments of 37signals.com President Jason Fried regarding an essay titled "The Top Ten Lies of Entrepreneurs", as originally posted by veteran Silicon Valley tech-head Guy Kawaski. Fried adds his thoughts to those put forth by Kawaski -- and the combined piece makes for some pretty solid advice for those hoping to establish a presence in the next generation of web businesses. For instance, where Kawaski writes "Boeing is going to sign our purchase order next week," Fried responds: "I love this one. My advice: Never bet your business on one customer. Ever. Never give preferential treatment either. Every customer outta be the same to you or you’re going to start favoring the minority instead of the majority." At the 2006 SXSW Interactive Festival, hear Fried and fellow Chicago resident Jim Coudal deliver Opening Remarks on Saturday, March 11.

10:01am CST | +

1/09/06
JOI ITO

Joi Ito

In a recent post on his blog, Joi Ito writes about his growing attachment to World of Warcraft. While focused specifically on this game, his observations about the challenges one faces in expanding alliances are applicable to the larger issues of online community: "It turns out that although it's quite a struggle to get to level 60, it's really just the beginning when you get to this maximum level. After that, there are several tiers of better equipment that you need to get in order to be tough enough to do the more difficult quests. Each item you need requires doing quests with groups of trusted friends. One of the difficulties at this level is that the groups of trusted friends you need to complete quest increases from five, to ten to twenty to forty. To do a forty person raid, you either need a very large guild or alliances with other guilds. I find myself spending a great deal of time networking with other guilds and players to try to put together the dream team while trying to grow our own guild. One of the tensions in growing a guild is that on the one hand, you want a small, friendly and social guild. On the other hand, you want a guild with enough diversity and number of high level players to go on quests together." Ito will moderate the Commons-Based Business Models panel at the 2006 SXSW Interactive Festival. Speaking of gaming, a new addition to this spring's lineup is the first annual ScreenBurn Beta Festival, a one-day gaming-related event on Saturday, March 11. Stay tuned to this website for more details on ScreenBurn.