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Had an interesting session today related bitcoin.  They talked about how we’re in the early stages, like the early 90s with the internet.  We’ve heard this before.  But he brought up a good metaphor: we’re inthe MP3 phase of digital music.  Meaning htat MP3 was critical to success of making people comfortable with digital music accessing music over the web.  However, today most people don’t use that technology, they religh on stream or itunes…they are not familiar with MP3 technologies.  What he’s basically saying is that we’re in “bridging” phase of bitcoin wherein its becoming useful enough so that people get comfortable and they’re a scaled base of users.  But like, MP3, it’ snot until there’s a scaled base of users that the real applcations will start to be developed. It took years of MP3 to get us to a Spotify or Beats Music.

Here’s the thing: he keep talking about financial transactions as the big promise of bitcoin.  However, financial transactions are like hte MP3s: it’s what bitcoin offers today.  I would suggest the breakthrough in Bitcoin is not going to be in financial transactions (for a number of reasons having to do with trust  /KYC /) but in some of other fields where the “open ledger” can dramatically change.

I was also creeped out someone with the talk of “open ledger” – does everyone want every transactin so publicly available?

Then there was the idea of making everything fungible: you could trade a book for food using bitcoin protocol rather than having to sell your book, get money, and use that money fo rfood. It seems like tha towuld take us back in time, not forward.  Further, I still think this would ultimately require an intermediary to determine the value inthe firs tplace.  Which takes us back to money.

I’m concerned that I don’t spend my time wisely.  Does everyone feel that way?

I read this good article about the “history” of blogging.  I say “history” in quotes because the idea that past years represents a historical period is silly.  Still, a lot has happened and blogging has changed a lot.  This article from Ezra Klein covers the it well:

“Blogging encourages interjections into conversations, and it thrives off of familiarity.”

Read it here:

It was more about long-term relationships that one-night stands.  Or is still that way and the people who were successful have changed?

The internet.  The be-all, end-all of publishing.  There are no more constraints: if you want to write something, you do it.  If people like it, they read and come back.  That was story of Andrew Sullivan.  The man who introduced me to the internet.

He’s leaving now, and for good reason. It’s impossible to keep up at the pace that he did.  So he has stopped.

I eagerly await what comes next.  But for me, I wonder:  is this the time that I’ll commit my thoughts to the world? Like he did? For Ill or Good Will? It’s as good a spark as any to commit.  And I’ll be humbled and surprised if I could accomplish a tenth of what he did. Even if I spend the next 30 years to do it.  Just wow, is all I need to say now.

There was a lot about Ghostbusters that I didn’t understand when I was a kid.   Why did Bill Murray keep on shocking that kid in when he was getting the cards right and the girl kept getting the cards wrong?  Why did Rick Moranis ask about taxes? And while I enjoyed the Stay-Puff Marshmellow Man as much as any other, I didn’t understand why the Giant Fluff marched down the street in the final scene.

Of course, as a kid all that didn’t matter.  The movie worked so well because the whole was greater than the some of its parts.  Harold Ramis, being a key player.

And yes, I too was terrified of the first scene in the library.

Can one truly advocate for “change” to happen? Here’s what a mean: 

Change is not a thing:  Change is what happens when an existing thing becomes a different thing. In other words, in order for change to happen you need a “before” and “after.”  Without he the “after” there is no change.

Examples: The existing CEO is replaced by a new CEO: the CEO has changed.  Your current weight drops 10 pounds: your weight has changed.  Instead of sleeping until 8am you start waking up at 6:30 and go to the gym: your morning routine has changed. 

The point is to say that advocating for “Change” to happen is meaningless without a vision for what the New thing is meant to be.   The current CEO might be doing a really bad job, but simply “advocating for change” will not solve the problem.  You advocate for a the NEW qualities that the CEO should have–You advocate for the solution to the problems, not change itself.  Change will be a result of that, but Change itself should not be a solution. 

So while you might be able to advocate for “Change” to happen, without a clear definition of what the”New” thing is supposed to be, advocating for Change is worthless–like investing in lottery tickets as a plan for retirement.  You should advocate for things, not change. 

 

I often wonder…it takes a lot of tomorrows.