It's Everywhere!

Maybe now I'm just more tuned in to the new technology craze b/c of the first weekend of class, but for the first time I can't find many scenes without some form of it. For example, I am traveling for business this week. I would venture to guess that every single person on the plane either had a laptop, ipod, mp3 player, or fancy cell phone. I had my laptop only b/c my work provides me with on. I do have a cell phone but not one of those fancy ones with the keyboard or internet capabilities. I do have a mp3 player that holds about 75 songs but I forgot to bring it. I really just read magazines and a book...the old way of passing time and entertaining myself! It was such an eye-opener! I am thrilled to at least be aware of all the things happening around me!

test post

I am a student at Drake University

Wikis in Plain English

Here is a quick demo on wikis. It is 3 minutes and 52 seconds. Provided by Common Craft.

Des Moines, Iowa

Prosumers (Producers + Consumers)

I admit, at first I did not see how every organization would be negatively impacted if they did not embrace the wikinomic revolution, specifically prosumers. I thought of a restaurant. Net users are not going to cook or serve my food. Then after a little more thought I found the connection. If restaurants opened up their ingredients, menus, customer service strategies, etc., they could open the door for great innovation and opportunity. For example, they could solicit ideas for new recipes or exceptional customer service practices or incentives. Of course a restaurant can be affected by openness, peering, sharing and acting globally. Now I'm having a hard time thinking of an organization that would not be affected by the new wave.

The concept of sharing

I completely understand how collaboration leads to great innovation and opportunities. What I did't get was why someone would freely lend their knowledge, skills and abilities to an initiative. Now I am a little more clear. The idea of being free to contribute (what and how much) is a nice break from the typical organizational structure. But still, doing it for no pay??? The key is tapping into what motivates people...letting them do what triggers their interest and expertise. A side benefit is experience, exposure and connections. With this in mind, I can see how production is occuring by peer pioneers. The three conditions tied it all together for me. 1. the object of production is information or culture. 2. tasks can be chunked into small pieces for individuals to contrinbute. 3. costs of intergrating those pieces into a finished end product must be low.

Check out a similar blog on peering from one of my colleagues.

The Net Generation

Who knew? I am a member of the net gerneration. Of course, I can easily use a computer and shop online. I even thought I was pretty savy for downloading and printing my own pictures from my digital camera. But I do not think I fit the mold of the Net Generation. I do not text, I do not blog (until now!), I do not have a MySpace. Before reading Wikinomics I merely used the web to surf, read, shop and email. I now realize that by reading product reviews before purchasing that I was benefiting from the new collective judgement of web surfers. Part of the collaboration that is taking the society and economy by storm. The concept of community is evident...it was put nicely in this book, "the web is not a library...it's the new glue that binds social networks.

Wikinomics Intro

I have begun reading Wikinomics and much of the information is very new to me. While I have heard of MySpace, YouTube and Wikipedia, I did not know what their significant association was. They are all part of peer production or peering. I personally do not use any of these services and think of myself as behind in all the technological fun. I was surprised to read that organizations that are not getting on board with wikinomics are in danger of missing opportunities. I am seeing the word collaboration a lot. It makes sense that reaching outside of ones own walls provides a greater chance for innovation and value.

Let the blogging begin!

Here it is...my first blog. The reading assignment prior to setting up my blog was helpful. I knew the basics (blog, blogging, blogger). However, I had no idea where the name was derived from or other features such as the archive. Good stuff!