Nothing to declare

2006-02-19

"If you are fully in control, then you aren't going fast enough" - Mario Andretti

It's time for a change to this Web log. There are a number of reasons to this, not least that, while my days have indeed been packed, often they've not contained things I've been able to talk about - "just trying to close a deal with XXX," for example, or "talking to the management of YYY," I suspect that neither XXX nor YYY particularly want me to blather on about our ongoing dialogues. Second, its been nigh impossible to mary my two worlds (music and IT) in blog format, and finally, writing about my day isn't really what rocks my boat. The real issue that I think would be worth documenting, is to do with coping with everything that's going on, navigating the complexities of the global village we find ourselves in. Technology is more and more about people, and people are more and more about technology, to an extent that the boundary between the two is shifting day by day. Grannies are texting their grandkids, and Sri Lankan tea co-operatives are communicating directly with Surbiton mums. The Internet is both a symptom and a cause, while the cost of an international call has dropped from pounds to pennies. There's syndicated newsfeeds, blogs and podcasts, wikis and word of mouth marketing, mashups and Web 2.0, all thrown into the mix with gay abandon.

There's so much going on, so what does it all mean? To be honest, I have absolutely no idea. I do know that I would never have set out to be a writer if I hadn't been in direct email contact with other authors, and discovered they were individuals just like me. I understand the blessing and the curse of communication, when bands like Marillion can regain their mainstream status, and others can appear from nowhere, without the backing of a monopolistic corporation. I do know that major companies are between a rock and a hard place, trying to retain their positions while implementing new strategies, all the while watching new companies steal their markets from under their noses. I do know that there are huge, geopolitical effects of all this change, some of which are real, and some of which are imagined to push some agenda or another. There are psychological and spiritual aspects, as people disciver like minds and communities, but suffer the consequences of having too much of a good thing. There are upsides and downsides, hidden agendas and ill-conceived plans, power struggles and opportunities for genuine, honest progress. Technology might be some, if not all of the cause, but equally, so much of technology is primitive, incomplete, non-inclusive. We stumble from one oasis of technological goodness to another, be it with mobile coverage or getting to our email. Ubiquity remains a distant dream, while integration and accessibility issues mar all but the simplest of interactions.

These are fascinating, turbulent times. We are right in the middle of something quite unique, a show that shows no sign of ending. We're emerging from a period of technological recession, conferences are buzzing again and the teddy bears are back on the stands. Its exciting again, largely because nobody has a clue where we're going to end up - a roller coaster ride for sure, rickety at times, but one which doesn't just come round to the starting point and heave a sigh before raising the barriers. On this trip, there's no getting off whether we wanted to or not.

All that to say, that's what I'll be writing about. I'm glad that's clear.