Digital Connections

Timeless Marketing Classics: Chris Anderson

Last week I contacted Chris Anderson, editor-in-chief of Wired Magazine, author of The Long Tail blog and Geekdad blog and of course the book, The Long Tail.

My question to Chris was simple, "Chris, which marketing books will survive the test of time - which ones do you consider to be Timeless Marketing Classics?”

Chris’ five classics are:

Kevin Kelly: Out of Control (1995)

This is a book about how our manufactured world has become so complex that the only way to create yet more complex things is by using the principles of biology. This means decentralized, bottom up control, evolutionary advances and error-honoring institutions. I also get into the new laws of wealth in a network-based economy, what the Biosphere 2 project in Arizona has or has not to teach us, and whether large systems can predict or be predicted. And more: restoration biology, encryption, a-life, and the lessons of hypertext. Yes, it's a romp, in 520 pages. But the best part, my friends tell me, is the 28-page annotated bibliography. If you have suspected that technology could be better, more life-like, then this book is for you.

Rick Levine, Christopher Locke, Doc Searls, and David Weinberger: The Cluetrain Manifesto (2000)

"Of Course" - Chris Anderson

" Most marketing campaigns are based on the fear that the market might see what's really going on isnide the company.  Sound familiar? If it does then you've already come across the Cluetrain Manifesto...... If you haven't already then you should make it your business to do so.... Until big brands embrace more of the Cluetrain thinking, the anti-capitalist rioters might just have a point." Campaign, August 2001

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Seth Godin: Unleashing The Ideavirus (2001)

Treat a product or service like a human or computer virus, contends online promotion specialist Seth Godin, and it just might become one. In Unleashing the Ideavirus, Godin describes ways to set any viable commercial concept loose among those who are most likely to catch it--and then stand aside as these recipients become infected and pass it along on to others who might do the same.

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Clay Shirky: Here Comes Everybody (2008)

Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations is a book about what happens when people are given the tools to do things together, without needing traditional organizational structures.

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David Weinberger: Everything is Miscellaneous: The Power of the New Digital Disorder (2007)

Business visionary and bestselling author David Weinberger charts how as business, politics, science, and media move online, the rules of the physical world - in which everything has a place - are upended. In the digital world, everything has its places, with transformative effects: Information is now a social asset and should be made public, for anyone to link, organize, and make more valuable; There's no such thing as "too much" information. More information gives people the hooks to find what they need; Messiness is a digital virtue, leading to new ideas, efficiency, and social knowledge; Authorities are less important than buddies. Rather than relying on businesses or reviews for product information, customers trust people like themselves.With the shift to digital music standing as the model for the future in virtually every industry, "Everything Is Miscellaneous" shows how anyone can reap rewards from the rise of digital knowledge.

Wikipedia Writes Final Chapter For Encarta

This week has seen Microsoft confirm that it plans to discontinue its Encarta Encyclopaedia product, acknowledging what everybody else has known for years, Encarta couldn’t match the collaborative effort of Wikipedia.

"Encarta has been a popular product around the world for many years. However, the category of traditional encyclopaedias and reference material has changed. People today seek and consume information in considerably different ways than in years past. As part of Microsoft’s goal to deliver the most effective and engaging resources for today’s consumer, it has made the decision to exit the Encarta business."

 

Before we all rejoice with Microsoft bashing, let’s stop, and give some credit to Microsoft Encarta. Encarta bettered the Encyclopaedia Britannica and gave us the world’s first truly global encyclopaedia with consistent entries with a high level of quality and accuracy across a broad range of topics. Encarta pretty much killed off print encyclopaedias too - before Wikipedia came along.

The internet has changed reference materials and the role of encyclopaedias, with Wikipedia, our well loved collaborative tool, providing and unrivalled depth and scope of coverage.

Wikipedia being a classic example of the strengths of open versus closed systems and of course the "Long Tail.” In 2005 Wikipedia offered more than 1 million articles in English - compared to Britannica’s 80,000 and Encarta’s 36,000 - Wikipedia has since experienced exponential growth with 0.01% of Wikipedia users (75,000) contributing to and generating over 10million articles.

One of my favourite Encarta v Wikipedia tales is written by Clay Shirky in his 2008 book "Here comes everybody"...

"When the managers at Encarta, saw the excitement around Wikipedia, they offered Encarta users the ability to perform a similar service for Encarta. The resulting problem was neither the promise or the tool: Wikipedia had shown that people are more than willing to contribute to online reference works, and that the tools are available to do so at low cost and large scale. What doomed the Encarta's effort to minor status was its bargain with users: users had to grant Microsoft permission to "use, copy, distribute, transmit, publically display, publically perform, reproduce, edit, modify, translate, and reformat your submission" for a product Microsoft was going to charge money for. This was hardly a bargain at all, as all the power lay with Microsoft, a fact that made the option for user contribution largely irrelevant. Encarta talked the same basic talk, but the details of the bargain, including its tone, undermined the possibility of any large scale recruitment.”

Encarta has had its day, and whilst it’s great to celebrate the "Wisdom of Crowds" - I just hope that Microsoft releases its reference and research for utilisation by Wikipedia (& Knol) and that we, as an online community, can strive to make Wikipedia an even more accurate resource tool.