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| | The Small Business Think Tank Network is not currently active and cannot accept new posts | | The Cult of the Amateur - Must Read for followers of PopTechnology | Views: 474 | | Dec 24, 2008 3:41 pm | | The Cult of the Amateur - Must Read for followers of PopTechnology | # | 
Paula Quick | | Dear SBTT:
After seeing this book at Barnes and Noble I decided I needed to buy it.
By Andrew Keen, a Silicon Valley insider, the book is subtitled how blogs, MySpace, YouTube and the rest of today's user-generated media are destroying our economy, our culture and our values. You get the picture just from that blurb (and this was before Twitter came on the scene).
He explores a trend in our society, not just the Internet, that I have seen for some time where in his words "amateurism, rather than expertise, is revered."
I'll give you a glowing example and I discussed this a bit with Walter B.
It used to be that being a photographer meant that you went to photography school or apprenticed with someone who had more expertise than you did, and of course, you arrived with your Nikon, a boatload of lenses, umbrellas, filters and the whole nine yards. Hey, I took a photography class a the Smithsonian and developed my own photos :))))
Now, with the advent of digital photography any Joe Schmoe can set up a photography business and be clueless about people like Alfred Eisenstadt. Photography as a learned(versus digitized) art is getting lost.
And not that there is anything inherently wrong with that. Digital photography has made all of our lives easier. But it is a double-edged sword.
I see the same thing in journalism -- which was my major at NYU. I specialized in broadcasting. Working at AP Radio, I spliced tape, used "carts" etc. to get "actuality" into the newcaster. He, he, it all seems so antiquated now, because any Tom, Dick, Harry or Jane can have a radio (or TV) show now without any formal training other than being able to work a computer. And forget writing, per se. Private label articles can make any rookie seem like a expert. Does that make it bad? Yes and no.
I look at the economy with the massive layouts and wonder if we, as a society, have set ourselves up. We have in essence CREATED a nation of entrepreneurs (laid off or forced out of corporate jobs or not) who can essentially take a "do it yourself" hobby and turn it into a business. Is it any wonder that businesses have no qualms about downsizing when so many jobs can be outsourced or automated in some way. Technology has helped to create this economic crisis mess.
A final example, but not least. Take jewelry making. Forget Tiffany's (well, no let's not forget Tiffany's) but even a six-year-old can make a decent beaded bracelet and hand-crafted soap, for example.
Somehow, some way, we need to cycle back around to where it is the art, the science AND the expertise that is valued, not just the techno-created version (bring back the cartoons, and lighten up on the animations).
I would love to hear comments!
Paula Quick, Internationally Recognized Life Coach & Reflexologist
http://www.thecheck-in.com & http://www.onyourfeetcoaching.com
You Don't Need More of "The Secret" You Just Need "The Check-In"
Do YOU MonaVie? http://www.monavie.com Distributor ID# 1507373Private Reply to Paula Quick | | Dec 24, 2008 3:51 pm | | re: The Cult of the Amateur - Must Read for followers of PopTechnology | # | 
Scott Wolpow | | If you asked a person from a previous generation to this writer he would tell you about another time.
When the typesetter was one job, the printer another, the paper maker a third. In small towns these were all small busines owners.
When I was young we still had butcher shops, button stores and other niche markets. My Mom recalls when shopping for the weekly food took an entire day. You went to the dairy store, the green grocer, the butcher, the baker [not the candlestick maker- they had electricity].
Walter takes digital photo's but still has his skills.
What has really happened is the percieved value of his work.
People think they can do it themselves at a level coase to a trained person.
They want to use "free" services that are poluted by ads.
Everything changes. It always has. Succesful people adapt.
Private Reply to Scott Wolpow | | Dec 24, 2008 8:04 pm | | re: The Cult of the Amateur - Must Read for followers of PopTechnology | # | 
Rodney Collins | | The fact that people take a "do it yourself" hobby and turn it into a business, creates opportunities for yet other people. Those who are turning hobbies into businesses are my target market!
Rodney Collins
Ready-to-Use Websites (now with Online Form Generator)
http://www.readytousewebsites.biz (easy.fast.affordable)Private Reply to Rodney Collins | | Dec 24, 2008 9:45 pm | | re: The Cult of the Amateur - Must Read for followers of PopTechnology | # | 
John Stephen Veitch | | For a completely different and I believe much more sensible view see this TED video by Charles Leadbeater.
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/charles_leadbeater_on_innovation.htmlPrivate Reply to John Stephen Veitch | | Dec 25, 2008 7:11 pm | | re: The Cult of the Amateur - Must Read for followers of PopTechnology | # | 
Lamar Morgan 954-603-7901 | | Paula,
I went to journalism school, too. When I went to school, I had to know how to mix chemicals in a dark room to develope pictures I took with a Twin-lens reflex camera. It was a real hassle just to get someone focused with that camera just to take a picture - not to mention the time it took to develop both the film and the prints. I can recall carrying a video porta-back on my shoulders to take video. Now, even kids can shoot pictures or videos with a device they hold in their hand. Then, they can send that content to Fox News via an email attachment and actually see it broadcast on network television. What's that device called? It's called a cell phone.
I don't think we are necessarily dumbing down the world with the Internet. Instead, we are getting more people involved "with the world." I have actually watched Youtube videos concerning Twitter where young children are telling the online world how to use that service. And, they do a good job. Amazing!
Yes, you do have more people talking online than ever before. Is there a lot of "noise" (useless information). Of course. But, there is also a lot of value. You simply have to separate the useful from the useless. And yes, there are tools online which can help you do just that.
I do not believe newspapers, magazines, radio and TV stations are going to become obsolete any time soon. I do not believe multi-million dollar Avid video-editing systems are going stop being used because ordinary people can use tools like Scala and Camtasia Studio to create online videos. Our society is simply going to continue to innovate.
What I see happening in our world is an overhauling of how we get things done. When I was in elementary school, an apple was something you had in your lunch box to eat or give to the teacher. Today, you ask a child if he has an Apple in his lunchbox and he is likely to think you are talking about an iPod or an iPhone.
Technology in itself is not our enemy. Amateurs are never going to replace professionals. But, that does not mean amateurs should be exempt from the marketplace. After all, it is usually from the pool of amateurs that professionals emerge. It is not always the number of degrees you have behind your name that matters most. It is what you are able to deliver that matters most.
Steve Jobs of Apple, Inc. does not have a lot of college degrees behind his name. He even got removed from the company he started, Apple, Inc. by someone with more degrees. But, Jobs was brought back. Today, he is regarded as one of the most innovative and highly-respected CEO's in the world. Jobs learned by doing...and he did very well. Does that mean there is hope for other amateurs out there? Absolutely!
Lamar Morgan
CDMM - Synergistic Business Marketing
707-709-8605
Attract more customers! Private Reply to Lamar Morgan 954-603-7901 | | Dec 26, 2008 3:42 am | | re: re: The Cult of the Amateur - Must Read for followers of PopTechnology | # |
Paula Quick | | Great perspective, Lamar, and well written -- clearly by a professional!
Paula Quick, Internationally Recognized Life Coach & Reflexologist
http://www.thecheck-in.com & http://www.onyourfeetcoaching.com
You Don't Need More of "The Secret" You Just Need "The Check-In"
Do YOU MonaVie? http://www.monavie.com Distributor ID# 1507373Private Reply to Paula Quick | | Dec 26, 2008 8:06 am | | re: re: re: The Cult of the Amateur - Must Read for followers of PopTechnology | # |
Lamar Morgan 954-603-7901 | | Paula,
I think it is important for folks not to give up on wanting better for their life. There are a lot of folks who worked on Wall Street that may now have to enter a different line of work. They may not have a track record of success for anything outside of Wall Street. Does that somehow make them incapable of doing other things? Certainly not.
There is always going to be somebody out there that runs faster, jumps higher and is more eloquent with words than you. But, that is no excuse for anyone to think he or she does not have something to offer simply because there are others who seem to do it better.
What's more, if you do not believe in your own value, how can you expect other to believe in you? Doctors are trained in the art of a good bedside manner for a reason. It reflects on the value and trust their patients have in them. Put another way, it is good for their business.
Business networking works best when people think win/win and demonstrate a "better together" approach.
Lamar Morgan
CDMM - Synergistic Business Marketing
707-709-8605
Attract more customers! Private Reply to Lamar Morgan 954-603-7901 | | |
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