PatMan's Peregrin

My first interaction with Twitter was about 9 months ago, and I got bored after a week – for various reasons, but the main one was that I couldn’t use it “on the go” easily with my mobile phone. I mean, what’s the point of micro-blogging if you can’t fire a thought off into the Twitter-sphere from anywhere?

Yesterday, I installed Twitterberry on my phone. The fact that it integrates into my Notifications (thus giving me the ability to trigger a sound on receipt of a tweet [rhyme!]), and the presence of an application icon means that I know when I get a reply and easily see when those that I follow tweet – that’s as “on the go” as I need. Twitterberry has the potential to keep me tweeting for quite a while…

The more I contemplate the Twitter model (metaphor?), the more confused I get. I understand the concept, and I see why “making waffles for little people” or “having a beer at the Gruene” can have value to the immediate “followers” around you. What I don’t get is why no-one has come up with a viable business model for Twitter.

Is it because the power of the model is at the limits of comprehension? It’s not MySpace or Facebook – neither of those models belie the abstraction that they are. It’s difficult to use them casually, without sitting down at a keyboard and logging in to interact with the site. Twitter is different. It enables random expression of consciousness by huge numbers of people in a public space. The ability to trend and aggregate the thoughts of so many people is something that any number of industries (think Marketing, Advertising, Sales, etc.) must regard as some sort of Holy Grail – and now that they have it, what the hell are they going to do with it?!

I look at services like TwitScoop, and I feel like I’m looking at the thoughts of millions of people. I see applications like TweetDeck, and I see R&D deptartments scrambling to define a paradigm – and failing. It’s been 3 years since Twitter was launched. Many rumours have circulated about it being bought out, yet none have panned out. It attracts masses of venture capital, but it generates no revenue. Something different is happening here, and I don’t think anyone has quite figured it out yet. It’s kinda like Cloud technology – good idea, but what’s the best way to utilize it?

I’m going to keep tweeting for a while, I reckon – follow me if you like!

“Before we leave this matter, I wish to comment on the theory implied by you, Mr Weems, when you claimed damage to your client. There has grown up in this country the notion that because a man or corporation has made a profit out of the public for a number of years, the government and the courts are charged with the duty of guaranteeing such profit in the future, even in the face of changing circumstances and contrary public interest. This strange doctrine is not supported by statute nor common law. Neither individuals nor corporations have any right to come into court and ask that the clock of history be stopped, or turned back, for their private benefit. That is all.”

The above passage is from the short story “Life-Line”, by science-fiction author Robert A. Heinlein. It was first published in Astounding Science-Fiction in 1939 (© Street & Smith Publications). Apparently, the “notion” has continued to grow!

Says it all, really...

I’ve had enough with the whole Santa Claus drama, seriously. I was perturbed enough as a child by the thoughts of a large stranger secretly entering my house, no matter how generous his intentions were. Now, I’m disturbed by the (apparently) complete abdication of responsibility by parents – of control over their own children – in favor of a lie.

The linked article above describes schoolchildren “burst[ing] into tears” when told by an exasperated teacher that it was their parents who put the gifts under the tree, not Santa Claus. Ask yourself the question – why would this cause children to cry? Loss of innocence, perhaps? At 7 years old can they really conceptualize that? Maybe it’s the fact they realize their dreams have no hope of come true – there’s never going to be that pony waiting under the tree on Xmas morning? Perhaps.

Personally, at that age, if I had (not already!) come to the realization that my parents were liars, I would have burst into tears too. At age seven, your parents are pretty much the only people you can trust – them and your teacher. And if your teacher rats out your parents, which way do you turn?!

I smelled a rat early on – the careful interrogations during the writing of letters to Santa regarding gifts; the subsequent threats should behavioral standards be breached; the ultimate reception of said gifts, no matter how much the limits had been pushed – everything pointed to a conspiracy. Easily revealed, given the opportunity to accompany my father to work one day – I couldn’t find anything at home, so I figured everything was being stored at his office. A quick foray into his filing cabinets confirmed my suspicions.

I was a precocious 5-year old.

Kids are not stupid. They apply the same yardsticks to the world around them as we adults do – and sometimes they measure things that we (in our wisdom?) neglect, such as sincerity, logic, and honesty. Trust is a highly-valued commodity when you are still aware that the world is constantly teaching you. It’s your filter. When that trust is breached, it is often traumatic – and on occassion, fatal.

Don’t lie to your kids, just because you are too lazy or irresponsible to discipline them yourself. If you want your child to be calm at Xmas, here’s an idea: stop feeding them refined sugar, and prevent them from getting agitated by the constant bombardment of advertisements by turning off the goggle-box and sending them out to play.

I have spoken. Act like you know.

Peace out,
PatMan