By the same logic, my understanding of the internet is flawed as well. I have had many times when a light bulb goes off in my head and for a split second the universe suddenly makes sense. While these moments are awesome (in the truest sense of the word “awe some”), they are temporary. Nonetheless, they have helped shaped my view of the internet and, to a certain extent, the world.
The following is a list of the resources that have substantially changed my view of the internet.
Embracing the Wisdom of Crowds
Wikipedia TED Talk - Wikipedia is the bane of every SEO's existence. It ranks for everything (#3 on my computer) and is difficult to replace. I shared this hatred until I came across Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales' explanation of why Wikipedia works. Frankly, the entire is process is quite beautiful.
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The Wisdom of Crowds - For most of you I imagine this book is not new. The Wisdom of Crowds by James Surowiecki changed how I view people. His research showed me what I should have seen all along. It is silly to think that an individual person would be better or smarter than the combined wisdom of a group. This book made me realize this.
The Wisdom of Crowds
A World Wide Web of Opportunity
A Speech by David Heinemeier Hansson - In 2008, David, of Ruby on Rails and 37Signals fame, gave a speech at Y combinator’s Startup School. In his speech he described what he believes to be the reason why so many internet companies fail. Without spoiling it for you, the link is below.
YouTube Founders Video - Can you imagine the feeling of securing the financial future for yourself and all of your loved ones simply by signing a piece of paper? It is the feeling that entrepreneurs dream of, and Chad Hurley and Steve Chen finally had it after selling YouTube to Google for $1.65 Billion. This video was taken right after this happened. No wonder they are so giddy!
Stop Following the Leaders:
Fortune 450-500 - I recently had an extremely eye opening lunch with a prominent technologist in Seattle. While discussing the role of education in technology, I foolishly brought up the stale examples of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates dropping out of school. Quick to the draw, my lunch mate advised me to stop studying the leading Fortune 500 countries and start studying the Fortune 450 through 500. While the leaders relied on hard work to get to where they are, they also were given tremendous good luck. This is not always the same for the companies lower down on the list.
Fighting Information Overload
Don't Make Me Think by Steve Krug is undoubtedly the best book ever written on web usability. His clear and well thought out explanations lay out what every web developer should know about doing their job. After reading this book, I literally made it a requirement for anyone who builds websites with me in my personal life.
Remembering My Place in the Internet’s Evolution
The Computer for the 21st Century - Back in February of 1991, Mark Weiser wrote this article in Scientific American. In it, he outlines a vision for ubiquitous computing that we are still working to achieve today. After reading this, I understood my proper place in computing for the first time. The cutting edge that we live on today is merely the foundation for computing tomorrow.
The Last Question - This is my favorite short story of all time. Written in 1956, Isaac Asimov eerily predicts the creation of a tool like Google. It's chilling, humbling and has a ending that has stuck with me since first reading it several years ago.
The Hacker's Manifesto - My experience as an internet marketer skews more toward the internet and development side of internet marketing. This article written in 1986 by +++The Mentor+++ taught me how little the spirit of hackers has changed. It is as relevant today as it was 23 years ago.
If you have any other resources that you think are worth sharing, feel free to post them in the comments. This post is very much a work in progress. As always, feel free to e-mail me or send me a private message if you have any suggestions on how I can make my posts more useful. If that's not your style, feel free to contact me on Twitter (DannyDover) Thanks!
Hey Danny,
Great stuff. As I read it and follow the links, it occurs to me that you have, in one article and a handful of well placed links, summed up my entire existence.
Kind of scary really.
Wow that's quite the claim.
It's a good thing this is a list of resources that are important to me rather than a list of my favorite lolcats ;-p
Cheers!
Ok, so its not so much a resource, but the single thing that has "made" the internet in my opinion is the rapid growth in social networking sites.
From MySpace to Twitter, via Facebook and Bebo, the internet is now finally being used for what I feel it was always meant, a true rich media platform for interpersonal discussion and debate (although mainly juvenile and pointless 99% of the time, thats more about the people of the world, not the technology).
Social Media has turned technology on for the younger generations in the same way as games did for me back in the 80's, but now the world that we live in is a much more connected place, and the educational benefits that come from it are a true testament to the power of the internet.
So, in my opinion, the single most importand thing to come of the internet and what it provides the digital generation, is a whole new way of staying in touch, socialising, and learning.
As a footnote, Im not a huge fan of social media from a professional point of view, Ive only had limited success in actually producing palpable benefits from it as a medium, but as a technology that "changes the way that I think about the internet", well that has to be the one!
Hi Danny!
In your second paragraph, you described a moment where "for a split second the Universe suddenly makes sense". In The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, a man invents a machine called the Total Perspective Vortex. When you stick your head in it, it gives you a "total perspective" of everything in the universe.
The only problem is, when a finite human actually grasps how vast and profound the universe actually is, he starts screaming in pain and his head explodes.
lol awesome.
The more unintended Hitchhiker Guide references I can make, the better. I think that puts the count at 42...
Danny, For sure the Hackers Manifesto was not only an eye opener back in the days, but a source of intregue when getting heavy to the internet space. Thanks for listing that!
I enjoyed the talk with Jimmy. Did you hear at 12:44 when he talked about the "Google Test" and went on to say that Google is a, "Nice starting point for quick research". I couldn't agree more!
If I don't know the answer to a question, I'll ask Google. When my 11 year old asks me something I don't know, I'll tell him to ask Google then come back and educate us both. What's information if you don't share it right?
When working on a project, I put myself right into the surfer's shoes. I open Notepad and start asking Google questions about the products and services my client offers. From that initial research I get to serious work.
Google is my friend. My acquaintances MSN and Yahoo are close by, but...notsomuch.
The tron guy always makes me laugh! Thanks for posting this and all the time and work it probably took to compile all the links and info. kudos to you!
Great selection!
Thank you very much for sharing!
*sigh* Now I'm going to have to spend the rest of my day watching these videos and reading those links. ;)
Thanks Dannny, looks like a bunch of great resources that will sure get me thinking.
(Also, +2 points for including the Tron photo)
Muhahah. All is going exactly as I planned it.
Soon I will be the only SEO who has enough time to actually do my job
Some of the best links I have been sent to in ages, the asimov story is being forwarded to everyone I know, I can't believe I hadn't read it before...It gave me chills
Its a great story. I am glad I had the opportunity to share it :-)
Loving it all Danny. Great work pulling together so many threads. You've been quiet recently - working on taking over the world? More posts please...
Appreciate it Will. :D
I have been finishing off my final classes and preparing to write a SEO book. If the latter project becomes a reality, you can expect more posts than you can handle :-)
Hoping to see you at SMX Advanced?
I'm not going to be at advanced, I'm afraid, but I am hoping to make it out to Seattle sometime soon. Good luck with the final classes - and the book - exciting.
I loved the Asimov story and I am just checking out Steve Krug's book.
Thanks for bringing this all together in a great post.
I wish I had the time to read and see all this. Too busy at the moment, but I'll buy the book it sounds very intresting.
TED moved me also a lot and I'm watching it instead of TV almost everyday.
What might be intresting to you are those two books (both greatly recommended from Rand too):
Good to Great (Jim Collins)Tipping Point (Malcom Gladwell)
Thumbs up for the old Tron guy picture :) and nice collection too
A fantastic list of resources. Per our tweets, perhaps I'm not reading the right books.
I would add, that something that changed how I viewed the internet was:Web 2.0...The Machine is Us/ing Us (youtube) from the Digital Ethnography Department at Kansas State University. To me, an eye opener.
You're so right about these resources, especially Steve Krug. Such a quick read and it really is the first step in designing websites.
On the analysis side, I think everyone should read Web Analytics: An Hour a Day. Yes, everyone endorses Avinash Kaushik but I really don't think you can understate the importance of setting goals and measuring your work.
I had forgotten about its length. The fact that t fits all of that information without any fluff is that much better!
Awesome collection of links! I loved the video by the Ruby on Rails creator.
Danny, I found some very helpful points here.
Thanks