Dorothea is starting a masters program in library science and finding herself one of the tech weenies in her group. She makes some interesting observations about the differences between those who are and those who aren't comfortable with technology.

One asked me yesterday during break in reference class how I learned what I know. “Being dropped in the deep end,” I told him honestly. There’s this weird sense that technogeekery is a higher calling, a priesthood. Nah. It’s what ordinary people do to keep from throwing very expensive pieces of equipment out top-story windows.

There’s also a sense that we technogeeks think what we do is a higher calling. And I suspect that’s substantially our fault, and it irritates me because it makes techno-evangelism (when it’s warranted) just that much harder. But—and here I will whinge a little—for all their techno-envy, these people will not stir a step to learn from me and people like me. [Caveat Lector]

One thing I've observed about the tech weenies I have known is a predisposition for learning in the "deep end" that others in organizations don't seem as comfortable doing. If you are technically inclined you quickly discover that there is always more to learn and that it is dangerous to trust documentation (read authority). You learn by experiment and you become inured to mistakes and failure. All of these are characteristics that are associated with effective learning.

By contrast, think how many other roles in organizations interfere with learning. It's little wonder that so many stay technologically illiterate. You can't learn it in a training class and you can't take the risks, small though they are in reality, needed to acquire workable knowledge.

9:39:05 PM •  • comment  

Welcome another biz/tech blogger

Umair Haque is blogging from the UK at Bubble Generation. Among others, he's got interesting posts on the impact of RIAA policies on developing economies and cultures and why ibankers shouldn't be giving advice on tech venture strategy. Oh, and he thinks there's a bubble in social software. [Due Diligence]

Looks like some interesting material and good takes on a number of topics. No RSS feed I could find, so somebody let me know when one appears. Until then, I have better things to do than surf there in hopes there's something to see.

Here's my selfish rule for new and potentially interesting blogs I hear about. I make one visit. If, and only if, there is an RSS feed I will subscribe to it if the first visit seems promising. No RSS feed and I will probably never go back unless several of the weblogs in my subscriptions list point me there.

8:09:40 PM •  • comment  

Jargon Builds Walls Not Bridges. David Giacalone: Jargon Builds Walls Not Bridges.  [Scripting News]

David has a lovely rant here about the self-inflicted damage we've created with ugly labels like 'blog' for the powerful tools and ideas we've invested in ahead of the curve. Not that I would have been happy with some marketing type trying to package things up while we're still figuring out what it is we have here. David sums it up nicely

Very few adults are looking for a clique, new religion, or (r)evolutionary movement to join.  They don't have the time or desire to learn a special new language or undergo some tribal initiation.  Instead, if they are going to turn to sites that use the weblog format, it will be because gathering or disseminating information that is important to them is especially easy and rewarding on such sites. [Jargon Builds Walls Not Bridges]

My approach has been to keep conversations focused on the problems that people have before talking about tools of any kind. Even that can be difficult because the natural tendency is to shortcircuit the conversation to the answer before we've really agreed on the question. Jargon, for all its usefulness as shorthand, just gets in the way.

For all the progress that has been made over the last several years, it's easy to forget how small and self-contained our little universe actually is. Time to start building some bridges.

5:47:36 PM •  • comment