Last week, I was lucky enough to attend Pop!Tech in Camden, Maine: three days of conferences examining the intersection of technology and culture. It is a little like TED, or so I am told. I was never invited to, or could afford to pay for, a conference like TED. Still, Pop!Tech was chock full of smart people giving extraordinary presentations. The theme of the conference was "dangerous ideas," but speakers pretty much did what they wanted, and that was OK with me. From big ideas to huggable gadgets, here are some of the highlights.
1. Blogging is a full-time job. I intended to blog every session, but the show just wore me down. Veteran bloggers like Ethan Zuckerman and Jason Kottke cranked out a dizzying number of posts on the conference. For a more design-oriented spin, check out Core77's take on the show. I am with you guys, as soon as I offload my current full-time job.
2. This is not your parents' energy crisis. I know this with some certainty because New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman repeated it at least ten times in his presentation, "Five Reasons this Isn't Your Parent's Energy Crisis." (Making a list is always a great way to create a presentation, or a column, on the fly.) Friedman readers will recognize the themes: We are funding both sides in the war on terror, the world is flat, green power is getting huge investments in China, and oil prices have an inverse relationship with freedom.
The new entry here was that our "new" economy is increasingly reliant on power. It is easy to see how driving a car uses energy, but every time you enter a search term, that takes power, too. And not just on your personal computer: Hidden away somewhere in Mountain View, CA is a room filled with servers continually executing search requests, indexing, and otherwise making the Net work. Google and Yahoo! are traditionally thought of as service providers, but they are going to be two of the biggest energy users of the next century as well.
3. My Beating Heart is really quite soothing. My Beating Heart has been out for a while, but this is the first time I have held one in my arms. It's a heart-shaped pillow with a small motor inside that simulates the beating of a human heart. I am not a big fan of cute technology--that is Jen's beat--but this is very cool. I got the chance to chat with its designer and inventor, Yury Gitman, at the show, and he has some great ideas about toy design. I hope to have him on Gearlog Radio soon, to share him with the world.
4. There is no such thing as privacy. When Hasan Elahi took the stage and told his story of being detained by Homeland Security, I thought this would be another presentation about racial profiling and government incompetence. Not so. Elahi, an artist and professor at Rutgers University, reacted to the incident by essentially relinquishing any semblance of privacy. He photographs every meal he takes, posts all his bank receipts, and even calls "his" FBI agent to let him know whenever he travels. If you want to know where Hassan is right now, just check out his Web site. He has modified his phone to act as a GPS system and track his location around the world. (Right now, it looks like he is in downtown London.)
Elahi says that by flooding intelligence agencies with information, he hopes to subvert their very structure. "I am perfectly OK opening up my whole life." Elahi says. "I intend to take this to the point where I have no privacy at all." My friends, that is hardcore.
5. There is a Long Tail, but it's better to be in the head. Wired editor-in-chief Chris Anderson presented a variant of his Long Tail thesis. I've read the book, and found it a bit dry. I totally agree that the Long Tail exists, but his examples are mostly about niche businesses finding markets somewhere down in the tail when shelf-space is essentially free.
Anderson's presentation at Pop!Tech was much more interesting. He focused more on the "economics of abundance" aspect of his work. For example, what happens when transistors are essentially free? Or storage? Or bandwidth? Video content used to have three main channels, then 500 in the cable age, but today there's a nearly infinite amount of free video on sites like YouTube. Now that is a dangerous idea.
Of course, everyone still wants to be in the head. A big hit is guaranteed to make money and reach a huge audience. Megahits just don't dominate the process anymore. As Anderson put it, we used to define business based on ROI, but now we build the business and figure out the business model later. (Just ask Yury Gitman.)
This column just scratches the surface of what went on at Pop!Tech, and it doesn't cover the countless late-night, alcohol-fueled conversations that were only tangentially related to technology. But those will have to wait until next week.
Excellent! The comments got resurrected in enough time to comment on this post-I really wanted to. :)
For example, I'm with you and Anderson on the theory of the Long Tail, partially because I love living life in the tail; taking advantage of the fact that lots of niche markets can now, because it's so easy to do so, bring their products to niche markets at low costs; everything from music that isn't pop (For example, which I'm sure Anderson used, the people who love jazz, blues, electronica, oldies, classical, and the like have to outnumber the people who like pop, but it's pop sales that keep music stores alive and selling those other genres) to books that aren't best sellers; because big bookstores and big music stores NEED the revenue from those popular titles and artists, they leave room for niche music stores and small bookstores to sell the things that the majority of consumers might not immediately care for. In the end, that means I get goods and services closer to the source, priced closer to actual value, and in more places.
At the same time, I wonder what Anderson would have to say about those times when the tail becomes the head by virtue of meteoric rise; like services like YouTube (now that Google's bought it) and Microsoft eating up SysInternals.
That being said, and more to the note of organizations like Digg and YouTube-companies that had a great idea, brought it to market, and said "eh, we'll figure out how to monetize it later," I'd really like to get my hands on a My Beating Heart. There's got to be something primally comforting and relaxing about a pillow with a heartbeat. :)
And oh to be a fly on the wall during Friedman's and Elahi's speeches, but at the same time, I think I'd be very worried about the flight back after hearing what they have to say though. All in all, sounds like a really informative show, Dan! Will we hear more from you on the topics discussed?
Last week, I was lucky enough to attend 
1. Blogging is a full-time job. I intended to blog every session, but the show just wore me down. Veteran bloggers like 
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October 28, 2006 3:40 AM
Excellent! The comments got resurrected in enough time to comment on this post-I really wanted to. :)
For example, I'm with you and Anderson on the theory of the Long Tail, partially because I love living life in the tail; taking advantage of the fact that lots of niche markets can now, because it's so easy to do so, bring their products to niche markets at low costs; everything from music that isn't pop (For example, which I'm sure Anderson used, the people who love jazz, blues, electronica, oldies, classical, and the like have to outnumber the people who like pop, but it's pop sales that keep music stores alive and selling those other genres) to books that aren't best sellers; because big bookstores and big music stores NEED the revenue from those popular titles and artists, they leave room for niche music stores and small bookstores to sell the things that the majority of consumers might not immediately care for. In the end, that means I get goods and services closer to the source, priced closer to actual value, and in more places.
At the same time, I wonder what Anderson would have to say about those times when the tail becomes the head by virtue of meteoric rise; like services like YouTube (now that Google's bought it) and Microsoft eating up SysInternals.
That being said, and more to the note of organizations like Digg and YouTube-companies that had a great idea, brought it to market, and said "eh, we'll figure out how to monetize it later," I'd really like to get my hands on a My Beating Heart. There's got to be something primally comforting and relaxing about a pillow with a heartbeat. :)
And oh to be a fly on the wall during Friedman's and Elahi's speeches, but at the same time, I think I'd be very worried about the flight back after hearing what they have to say though. All in all, sounds like a really informative show, Dan! Will we hear more from you on the topics discussed?