The power of the marginal

July 16, 2006 By

An essay from Paul Graham resonates with me. Titled “the Power of the Marginal” it talks about where change in society comes from and why small things often change the world. Thanks to Rick Segal who emailed this to me this morning. I see over on his blog that he did a little experiment with a toilet seat to prove a point to developers. I love Rick. Always thinking outside the box. Or, in this case, off the throne.

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http://www.sapalvexpert.com/ ken

Robert,
Think about the toilet seat story when you consider you new podcast venture… not everyone is going to “get” reading and viewing on a cell phone.
-Ken
http://www.sapalvexpert.com ken

Robert,
Think about the toilet seat story when you consider you new podcast venture… not everyone is going to “get” reading and viewing on a cell phone.
-Ken
http://scobleizer.wordpress.com/ Robert Scoble

Ken: I don’t need them all to get it to build a very successful business.

Remember, back in 1977 only a very small percentage of people “got” personal computers.

All I need is an audience that grows in size over time at a consistent and decent rate. Second Life is growing around 15% a month, for instance. That means there’s business opportunities there.

Blogging has been doubling in size every six months for about five years now. Business opportunities.

Eventually the growth gets very interesting. But it doesn’t need to look interesting at the beginning.
http://scobleizer.wordpress.com/ Robert Scoble

Ken: I don’t need them all to get it to build a very successful business.

Remember, back in 1977 only a very small percentage of people “got” personal computers.

All I need is an audience that grows in size over time at a consistent and decent rate. Second Life is growing around 15% a month, for instance. That means there’s business opportunities there.

Blogging has been doubling in size every six months for about five years now. Business opportunities.

Eventually the growth gets very interesting. But it doesn’t need to look interesting at the beginning.
http://realfake.org/blog Ezra

Video of this from RailsConf is up at
http://blog.scribestudio.com/articles/2006/07/17/david-graham-railsconf-2006-keynote-address
http://realfake.org/blog Ezra

Video of this from RailsConf is up at
http://blog.scribestudio.com/articles/2006/07/17/david-graham-railsconf-2006-keynote-address
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The power of the marginal

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