The Cluetrain Manifesto:The End of Business as Usual

After reading The Cluetrain Manifesto by Christopher Locke, I was shocked to find negative thoughts towards the article. This guy makes not good but fantastic points about the problems with businesses, and states the advantages with the use of the internet. Locke is animated throughout with use of movie quotes and straight to the point. "We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto, and we might as well get used to it". I loved his sarcasm, because it shows how easy it is to understand what corporations turn into complicated bullshit. Not to be harsh, but this is the same crime Joy committed, OVERANALYZING. Sometimes statements are not meant to be explained. You either understand or you don’t. Joy comments on his statement about how you turn on the television and see www.haveanotherbeer.com, its not meant to be taken literally. It means that now consumers are still pushing their products down consumers throats like they always have. Everything is being advertised through the internet as well as the past ways, TV, telephone solicitors, billboards, PLUS websites. But there is a problem with this. Corporations needs to figure out new ways to advertise through the internet. I don't think the point of the article was to explain the history of the internet, but rather prove what problems have been developing over the years in poor command and control.


Sorry Joy, but businesses do not continue to get bigger but have been hit hard by the use of the internet. Especially music businesses, many people have been laid off and whole corporations have been shut down. Yes NEW businesses have developed and grown, but these are because adapted to our culture's use of the internet for entertainment, education, communication, and business. Locke points out how the internet has helped to changed the balance of power from wealthy upper class white males to a larger range of individuals with no limit to age, race, class, or social status. This proves true with younger individuals developing internet businesses such as Napster and Kazaa. www.bbc.co.uk is a great article explaining the advantages of the internet and the changes in power. Throughout the reading I found that many of his theories about the internet and the effects of the internet over the past years, are accurate. The difference in business since the growth of the internet has changed tremendously and Locke proves it with his many examples.


Locke outlines business as early as Henry Ford and points out the changes with command and control since then. I feel that this article is important because it highlights a very important idea. The idea is that we as consumers are becoming smarter and more in control due to the internet. The internet has helped us to do this by educating us, enabling articulation of knowledge more efficient. I feel that this is very true. We as a society have more power over what we buy, read, and experience. Through the internet we are able to read reviews and have questions answered immediately. We also have a wide variety of options and products. This seems to scare businesses who have had hidden agendas and motives. Through the internet consumers have been able to become smarter about what they spend their money on. Another important aspect of the internet as a mass market is that it gives us the opportunity to communicate with a wide range of people. Yes, it is much different than earlier markets, but this is what businesses today need to adapt to. Technology continues to changes as well as individuals needs and wants. Locke points out that now we have knowledge. Over time, business has become more complicated than single product-lines and simple processes. What he's trying to communicate is that altogether the internet has significantly changed the market place and for business to grow and prosper the old ways have to change according to how we communicate today :The World Wide Web.