Joho the Blog
An Entry from the Archives

Well, we readers still like to read it. And the wonderful thing about a book or a site is that it just sits there, waiting to be discovered anew.

I had friends send me links to the ClueTrain site years ago, but never followed up on it. Then I heard you speak a couple of years ago, liked your sensibility, started reading your blog, then read the manifesto and greatly enjoyed it.

So thanks.

Don't you ever dare to give up writing! :-))
Just read your very insightful "small pieces..." with great (intellectual) pleasure.

I think writers tend to be among the most self-deprecating folks around. Cluetrain was quite possibly the most useful business book I had ever read. I devoured it at the time, and gave copies to co-workers -- I shoved it in their hands, insisting "you've gotta read this!" It is a book that would make any parent proud. Have a wonderful weekend.

Thank you, but I didn't mean my post to prompt people to say nice things. So, please, no more!

And maybe it'd help to know that I've been working on a book proposal for 18+ months. Yes, a proposal, not a book. I know what I want to talk about and even much of what I want to say, but I can't figure out how to present it in a way that readers will care about. So, I'm a tad frustrated and even a little depressed and that probably seeped into this blog entry.

I agree that Steven Johnson is dauntingly intelligent and articulate.

But don't sell yourself short, David. You're kinda sharp and clear yourself.

Hey David - I can understand your discomfort being characterized as "authoring" the ideas that became Cluetrain. It doesn't diminish the importance of the book to say that you and your co-conspirators were really "reporting" on what you saw (largely) under the surface. Ultimately though, the really important thing is that you guys were able to articulate ideas/concepts underlying the rise of the Net that are profoundly important and have a timeless quality. Some are so simple they are hard. But once understood, they demand reexamination of virtually every aspect of doing business. The most powerful, in my opinion being manifesto point #1: "Markets Are Conversations".

For a number of years before I bought the book, and heard you guys speak in DC and CA, I had a growing awareness of important changes underway and I struggled to express what I sensed. In this way, it is safe to say that some of us were aware of the meaning of manifesto point #1 long before the ink hit the pages. I just wasn't able to express it so elegantly, and in only three words...

I know you said "no more", but... I just have to join with the others and say thank you.