Organization Is Key

Sunday, April 17, 2005

The Cluetrain Manifesto: Chapter Three

Locke continues to develop great ideas and concepts in Chapter Three of The Cluetrain Manifesto. I enjoy the quote he uses in the introduction to the chapter. It gives the reader a better understanding of where he might go in the text, and continues his idea of the voice. He is great with relating back to his previous material on the world wide web. The way Locke introduces his new idea for chapter three with his explanation of sculpting is interesting. Many people do this in life. They compare something very close to them in order to understand other aspects of life. If you ever talk to an actor they explain the way it helps them in everyday life, such as job interviews, relationships, and interaction with hierarchy. I believe in this ideal. We incorperate our passions and desires into our ordinary tasks in order to further ourselves. It's hard at first to see the similiarities between a sculpter and a web designer but after Locke's explanation it starts to make sense.


Locke describes how the human voice animates its mood, feeling, and imagination. This is extremely true and hard to achieve while enganged in something else. "Talk is cheap. The value of our voices is beyond mere words. The human voice reaches directly into our beings and touches our spirits." This is positively true. Our voices do not lie. Our tone, inflation, facial expression express a lot more than just words.


In this chapter Locke starts to get extremely repetitive. Alexis makes a valid point of how the text gets confusing and tedious. Joy also makes me understand the way Locke restates his idea so much that it creates boredom with the readers. Yes, Chapter three could have been cut in half without so much repetition, making the same points. He is starting to beat a dead horse. Anyways i find his ideas interesting and accurate.

The Cluetrain Manifesto: Chapter Two

After reading Chapter Two I have found that Locke's points seem to broadan on the importance of the internet. In the first chapter he seems more detailed with his explanations, more on topic. I feel he makes valid points with his idea of the human voice and our use of our voices today. I feel that in some ways our society has gotten use to not using their voice to its full potential. We too often rely on articulation through literature than diolgue. I feel that this will turn into a larger conflict. Because so much can be done through technology, communication using our real voice has diminished. This can have a scary effect, especially with new generations relying on this type of communication.


I do feel that in our everyday lives people constantly try to manage every detail. Familys try to manage their relationships with eachother, businesses try to manage their employees and money, Schools try to manage their students and classes, everything is managed whether we except it or not. Management in todays society is a large part of how we live our lives. Management and mismanangement in business is an important aspect of whether or not that business is successful. We rely heavily on management to acchieve certain goals, and if something goes wrong we blame it on what weant wrong with the management. How many times do you hear that a business failed due to its management? Everything goes back to how it was run and organized. Deanna makes a great point that although the internet gives us another way to communivate it can be devious. Communication through email, AIM, and other types of internet communication can have various misunderstandings. Communication using our real voices can be understood through tone, facial expression, and mood. This is hard to accheive through reading others work. People are always looking for new easier and faster ways to communicate to others. "The spiritual lure of the Web is the promise of the return of voice." This is extremely true. One of the most intrigueing parts of communication through the web is the return of the voice. Gaining a response through the internet is an uplifting ideal whether its an email, reponse to a question, post by another person regarding your comment, or an instant message response. There is a certain feeling of acheivement when we get a reponse through the web. It's the feeling of instant gratification, since we do not have to wait for delivery upon hours, day, or weeks.


Locke makes me question whether management=professionalism. This is an interesting concept because many aspects of business are conceived through management. One very interesting site I came across is PMI, Project Management Institute, an institution which concentrates on management to upkeep business. PMI is an organization which deals with the upkeep of government opportunities and instill its employees with management techniques in order to keeps things in order. The organization is a global network working solely through connection of the internet. The website explains that the organization is a way to share ideas, "PMI membership opens up a world of opportunity – sharing ideas and experiences, accessing industry information, attending seminars and workshops on leading-edge topics, increasing your professional exposure through networking and project participation, and gaining leadership experience." It is a great example of what Locke points out as how our society concentrates on management as a way to further their careers, family, and everyday life. Yes everything cannot succeed in being managed but everything in some way or another is attempted to be managed. Check out Alexis' blog where she comments on the importance of blogging. This is a new way to share ideas and comments, as well as including other ideas in our own.


Lock concludes chapter two stating the web is a way for us to express ourselves in an entirely different way. Long live the web and its ways of communication. The internet continues to develop new ways of communication with video, voice, and email. There are new ways of contacting old friends through websites and organization helping it easy to upkeep communication. Long live the web.

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