Comments on: In the context of living http://pubfrontier.com/2008/02/24/in-the-context-of-living/ A raucous public discussion of the publishing revolution. Sat, 22 Nov 2008 04:42:10 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 By: ljndawson http://pubfrontier.com/2008/02/24/in-the-context-of-living/#comment-64 ljndawson Mon, 25 Feb 2008 21:49:09 +0000 http://pubfrontier.com/2008/02/24/in-the-context-of-living/#comment-64 Yes, the first rule of product management - before designing a product, determine whether or not it will actually be useful to your target market. That means going out there and sitting down with the people you think could benefit from it. Sounds obvious - almost never happens. Yes, the first rule of product management - before designing a product, determine whether or not it will actually be useful to your target market. That means going out there and sitting down with the people you think could benefit from it. Sounds obvious - almost never happens.

]]> By: Michael Jensen http://pubfrontier.com/2008/02/24/in-the-context-of-living/#comment-62 Michael Jensen Mon, 25 Feb 2008 18:25:30 +0000 http://pubfrontier.com/2008/02/24/in-the-context-of-living/#comment-62 <p>People will use what works, for them, in their locale, within their context. The folks in Surprise, Nebraska won't have broadband for who knows how long, so they use what they have -- plain old copper. Folks in Bogota -- at least the vast majority -- will have no need to browse the web, and can't afford a computer anyway. The folks in Ngunya, Kenya (where my wife spent two months as part of her degree in International Development) won't have copper probably ever, so until WiFiMax comes their way, they'll use their cellphones.</p> <p>We technofuturists (or whatever we're called) opining on the radical changes in publishing sweeping the world need to remember that the degree of diversity of access, diversity of interest, diversity of demand, diversity of needs, will be the key drivers in the march to the future.</p> <p>Why would a subsistence farmer in Ngunya want to read a long-form text on any device, if long-form reading isn't any part of their existing habits? Why would the folks in the slums of Bogata care about up-to-the-minute news, if they rarely read the printed newspaper?</p> <p>I posit these -- along with Peter's and Binyavanga Wainaina's smart analysis -- not to be a wet blanket on laudable (if sometimes tunnel-visioned) efforts toward helping those in need, but to help remind us that worldwide, we are a collection of diverse ecosystems, each with their own drivers, predators, and forage.<br><br>One size never fits all -- and no technology or format is a killer app in all ecosystems -- even in the States, or Japan, or the EU, much less in the developing world.</p> People will use what works, for them, in their locale, within their context. The folks in Surprise, Nebraska won’t have broadband for who knows how long, so they use what they have — plain old copper. Folks in Bogota — at least the vast majority — will have no need to browse the web, and can’t afford a computer anyway. The folks in Ngunya, Kenya (where my wife spent two months as part of her degree in International Development) won’t have copper probably ever, so until WiFiMax comes their way, they’ll use their cellphones.

We technofuturists (or whatever we’re called) opining on the radical changes in publishing sweeping the world need to remember that the degree of diversity of access, diversity of interest, diversity of demand, diversity of needs, will be the key drivers in the march to the future.

Why would a subsistence farmer in Ngunya want to read a long-form text on any device, if long-form reading isn’t any part of their existing habits? Why would the folks in the slums of Bogata care about up-to-the-minute news, if they rarely read the printed newspaper?

I posit these — along with Peter’s and Binyavanga Wainaina’s smart analysis — not to be a wet blanket on laudable (if sometimes tunnel-visioned) efforts toward helping those in need, but to help remind us that worldwide, we are a collection of diverse ecosystems, each with their own drivers, predators, and forage.

One size never fits all — and no technology or format is a killer app in all ecosystems — even in the States, or Japan, or the EU, much less in the developing world.

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