Scoble has a productivity problem

May 27, 2008 By

I received this letter the other day and have been thinking about it a lot.

From: Bob Bly
Sent: Mon 5/19/2008 4:41 PM
To: rscoble@fastcompany.com
Subject: Question from a reader

As a Fast Company subscriber, I occasionally read, with much bewilderment, your column.

What bewilders me is why you are excited about the things you write about.

I am not being facetious but ask the question respectfully — and I hope you might write a column to answer it.

I can’t understand why anyone would bother with or get excited about all the Internet and electronic stuff you talk about.

It seems to me that all these things — Twitter, Facebook, iPhone, Flickr — are a thundering bore and an utter waste of time.

I don’t have any of it — for that matter, I don’t own a Blackberry, iPod, wireless laptop, or even a cell phone — and I get along fine without them.

In fact, I’d say my productivity is greatly enhanced by not fooling with all these useless gadgets or reading the endless blather on social networking sites.

Can you help an old guy from the old school understand what he’s missing?

P.S. Your column is well written and there are obviously a legion of people who get all this stuff. I’d like to see if I could become one of them or at least understand what all the fuss is about.

Bob Bly
Copywriter / Consultant
www.bly.com

Ahh, we have a productivity problem!

Whenever I am faced with a productivity problem I ask myself “what do I want to get out of life?”

The answer to that question usually guides whether or not I’m doing the right thing. Er, the most productive thing.

Lately I’ve been asking myself a lot of similar questions that Bob has been asking me.

“Is it better to just take the night off and watch some TV instead of trying out that new Windows Mobile Smart Phone that arrived?”

“Is it better to change Milan’s diapers or answer another email?”

“Is it better to go have a nice glass of wine down at the Ritz or open up Twitter to see if it’s up again?”

“Should I start reviewing some Facebook applications or should I go for a walk?”

But I’m just being silly. The real thing I’ve been doing for more than eight years now is to try to arrange my life so that I have an interesting conversation every day with someone interesting.

A great many of those conversations have happened because of something I wrote here, or a community I participated in.

But why use all these things? Well, they help me start conversations with other people. Look at the photo above. I shot that on a little walk I did yesterday afternoon with my newfangled cell phone that lets me post that photo automatically from my cell phone to Flickr so you all can see it within seconds of me shooting that. I was thinking about my place in life and community. The Golden Gate National Cemetery is a powerful place to visit to do just that and to think about questions like the one that Bob poses here.

Why do I want to keep up with Flickr? Well, Flickr is how I share that photo with all of you, which, by the way was shot with a new cell phone that I’m testing from Nokia (the N82). Why do I want to use Twitter? Well, that’s how I keep up with the Mars Lander that’s sending back some interesting data that have scientists very excited this week. Why do I want to use FriendFeed? That’s how I study how early adopters are reacting to a number of interesting tools and services, not to mention the news of the day. Here’s a comment cluster there talking about Freshbooks and whether or not that’s any good.

Why do I like Qik? Because that’s where I can watch a Congressman, John Culberson, who put live video of what he was experiencing as the Mars Lander started sending photos on Sunday afternoon. Magical.

Yes, I do have a productivity problem. There’s too much interesting stuff to participate in on FriendFeed. Here’s a page that shows every single FriendFeed item that I’ve either “liked” or “commented” on. Warning, that’s thousands of things. You have been warned, a lot of my productivity has been spent doing that for you.

Facebook? Where else can I learn that Jim Long, NBC Cameraman who covers the President at the White House was born 18 days before me? (Seriously, I just learned that by looking him up on Facebook). Seriously, though, I have 8,000 business cards from all sorts of people like Jim, but I go to Facebook to see if I can find their email address or phone number before going through my large rolodex. Jim Long is on Twitter and one of its most active members, by the way.

DAMN IT SCOBLE ANSWER BOB’S QUESTION

OK, OK, I see that a few of you are interested in how I’d answer Rob’s question straight up. My answer:

“There is value in staying ignorant.”

Seriously. Think of the tradeoff to staying ignorant. You might have to go to school to learn something new instead of grabbing another beer out of the fridge and sitting on the couch and watching another CSI, like I did last night. Hey, sitting on the couch with your baby and your wife and drinking a beer while watching TV is a lot of fun, but it gets back to the question I ask myself often: “what do I want to get out of life?”

Hint: sitting on a couch and drinking beer isn’t going to help me get to my goal.

For ME playing with the latest social network, the latest cell phone, the latest laptop, etc will help me get to my goal.

Now, if your goal is different than mine, you’ll want to use your own tactics.

But let’s say you aren’t into the latest technology, but, rather, are a dress maker. Well, then you probably won’t care one bit about the latest cell phones, or whether you’ve gotten poked on Facebook today or not, but you probably will want to check out BurdaStyle, where they practice open source sewing.

If you want to be productive, focus your efforts on getting to where you want to go.

Bob, you say you are a copywriter. Now, I used to be one of those too. Worked at a magazine back in the 1990s and edited and wrote and all that — even did advertising copy for our advertisers. I used to use Microsoft Word. Are you still using a typewriter? Back in the 1970s, that was the tool of the trade. Then it switched to PCs and Word. Why? Because new kids like me came along and were able to do more with less. Why? I could write and edit far faster than anyone with a typewriter could (despite their protestations — I had proof on my side and, anyway, the new employers who were hiring wanted copy sent in digitally to lay out with Aldus’ Pagemaker, which I also learned how to use, and anyone who was sticking with typewriters caused another step to be inserted where errors could creep into copy).

Today I’d say the skill set is shifting once again. This time to something like Zoho Writer or Google’s Docs. Because if you visit Fast Company’s offices in New York, for instance, they want to work with you on your copy in live time. Fast Fast Fast is the word of the day. It’s in our title, after all. Now some people still use Word, but last time I was there one of the editors told me he was moving everything over to Google’s Docs because it let him work with his authors much more effectively.

And learning something new does seem to get you kudos, promotions, and all that. When I visited the New York Times last week I noticed that the executives there weren’t proud of people who did things the same old way, but rather were proudest of the people who were trying to do things a new way. Hey, how about putting the New York Times news on top of Google Earth? I bet that team gets considered first when raises come around.

But, like I said, I have a productivity problem. I spend too much time playing with all this stuff. So, later today, I’m going to interview the CEO of Dogster. What’s that? Oh, yeah, a social network for dog owners. My productivity is going to the dogs this afternoon. I think I’ll bring my newfangled cell phone and show you some video of the offices at about 1 p.m.

I have Bob Bly to blame for finally realizing that I’ve been so unproductive lately. He taught me that I could get ahead in life by staying ignorant of it all. Maryam, can you bring me another beer please?

Another way to close this post? Sorry to impede on your productivity, but how would you answer Bob’s letter?

UPDATE: We’re discussing this post over on FriendFeed.

UPDATE2: Is Bob Bly pulling our leg? Read this comment by BlogHer founder Elisa: “A little historical context here: In late 2004 Bob Bly famously wrote a newsletter dissing the potential of blogging as a marketing & communications tool, mocking it, some would say. Great link bait and blog fodder. He then, surprise surprise, started a blog himself. Talk about built-in attention & controversy. Funny thing, he maintains that blog pretty actively to this day. I’d say he’s planning to get on Facebook, Twitter etc. in about 2 weeks & just wants to make sure people are paying attention ” – Elisa Camahort Page

Filed Under: technology industry Tagged With: Productivity

http://prstore.typepad.com Scott Hepburn

Hi Robert, Hi Bob. I’m a long-time fan, Robert, but this is my first comment on your blog. And since I’m also a long-time fan of Bob’s work, this thread has replaced the Clinton-Obama saga as my entertainment of choice. I had to way in.

Bob, you’re one of the copywriting greats…highly respected in my office…but I have to disagree with your claim that the new media innovations are too much to keep up with and should thus be ignored. That may be true for many businesses, but just like the press release or the website, these tools are part of a marketing arsenal. Whether you use one tool really well or use many in combination will depend on the nature of your business, your customer, and your personal style.

One reason I use these tools is because influential people are using them. The Scobles, Rowses and Huffingtons of the world can do as much for my company with a single mention as the Rathers, Jenningses and Brokaws. Mastery, or at least a working knowledge, of the tools they use is the sine qua non of connecting with these influencers.

Robert, while I agree with most of your argument, unfortunately (or fortunately, for those of us on the front edge), most businesses haven’t figured out Twitter, Flickr, videoblogging, et al. They’re powerful tools, for sure, but we’re just barely into the experimental phase. The really exciting stuff — entrepreneurs and working-class buffoons like me inventing new uses for these tools — is still ahead of us.

Great running debate, guys…best read I’ve had so far this week.
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http://www.internetisshit.org/ Christopher Coulter

http://globosphere.blogspot.com/ too dated…but my answer is there, click under Links.
http://www.internetisshit.org/ Christopher Coulter

http://globosphere.blogspot.com/ too dated…but my answer is there, click under Links.
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http://lowtechtimes.com/ S.P. Gass

Bob Bly, I agree with you on Twitter, Facebook, Blackberry, iPod, and the iPhone. Their cost and/or time investment is not worth the benefit for me at this time in my judgement.

I have tried Flickr and do like the feature where you can order photobooks from qoop. For me that is easier than putting the prints in an album myself. What I don’t like about Flickr is that they limit free-account users to just three albums at a time stored on their site.

At a previous job, I was issued a laptop and do appreciate it’s portability vs a desktop. Since then, I’ve purchased one and enjoy blogging outside on the screened-in porch.

Also, I avoided purchasing a cell phone for a long time, but my wife finally talked me into it. It’s a pay-as-you-go plan that costs $100/year which isn’t too bad. I have it in case of emergencies or other times when it occasionally comes in handy. But in general, I keep the phone turned off.

Robert S., I believe you are wrong to suggest that those who choose not to spend their money/time on the latest unnecessary hi-tech gadgets and services are ignorant. More on my site if interested…
http://lowtechtimes.com S.P. Gass

Bob Bly, I agree with you on Twitter, Facebook, Blackberry, iPod, and the iPhone. Their cost and/or time investment is not worth the benefit for me at this time in my judgement.

I have tried Flickr and do like the feature where you can order photobooks from qoop. For me that is easier than putting the prints in an album myself. What I don’t like about Flickr is that they limit free-account users to just three albums at a time stored on their site.

At a previous job, I was issued a laptop and do appreciate it’s portability vs a desktop. Since then, I’ve purchased one and enjoy blogging outside on the screened-in porch.

Also, I avoided purchasing a cell phone for a long time, but my wife finally talked me into it. It’s a pay-as-you-go plan that costs $100/year which isn’t too bad. I have it in case of emergencies or other times when it occasionally comes in handy. But in general, I keep the phone turned off.

Robert S., I believe you are wrong to suggest that those who choose not to spend their money/time on the latest unnecessary hi-tech gadgets and services are ignorant. More on my site if interested…
http://www.istrategylabs.com/ Peter Corbett

Mr. Bly you are an absolute master of self promotion. Well played.
http://www.istrategylabs.com Peter Corbett

Mr. Bly you are an absolute master of self promotion. Well played.
Jimmy Dell

The sad thing, that I’ve discovered in being in this industry for at least as long as you, Robert, is that besides the constant sugar high of getting something new every day, that it doesn’t confer any advantage, so unless the journey is it’s own reward, so it’s just not worth running like a hamster jumping at each new idea coming from twitter or techmeme. For a long time, I used to think that somehow getting it first would somehow give me the leg up, and I found that it didn’t, and worse, that the truism of the pioneer getting the arrows in his back was correct. There’s room for one Scoble, you get to be the food taster that chokes on the poison burrito, but there’s no need for anyone to emulate you, we’ll be able to capitalize on your great discoveries and avoid your dismal failures. You’re the Russian roulette player who pulls the trigger again and again and again…
Jimmy Dell

The sad thing, that I’ve discovered in being in this industry for at least as long as you, Robert, is that besides the constant sugar high of getting something new every day, that it doesn’t confer any advantage, so unless the journey is it’s own reward, so it’s just not worth running like a hamster jumping at each new idea coming from twitter or techmeme. For a long time, I used to think that somehow getting it first would somehow give me the leg up, and I found that it didn’t, and worse, that the truism of the pioneer getting the arrows in his back was correct. There’s room for one Scoble, you get to be the food taster that chokes on the poison burrito, but there’s no need for anyone to emulate you, we’ll be able to capitalize on your great discoveries and avoid your dismal failures. You’re the Russian roulette player who pulls the trigger again and again and again…
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Joaquin

Great place for people with differing ideas to spend a great deal of time unsucessfully convincing others they are right. Thanks for the 4 minutes of entertainment. I’ll wait until the movie comes out to see how it ends.
Joaquin

Great place for people with differing ideas to spend a great deal of time unsucessfully convincing others they are right. Thanks for the 4 minutes of entertainment. I’ll wait until the movie comes out to see how it ends.
http://TribalSeduction.com/ @CoachDeb

LMAO

Quote by Scoble:

“Markus: I think we have a reading problem here. I can’t help it if you can’t read fast.”

ooooh i can SO attest to how Twitter has turned me into SUCH a better speed reader!

I can’t believe how much I know about new media technology & resources for my clients ever since I joined TWitter & followed the early adopters. WOW! I never read this many blog posts before – b/c they often were “long” and I didn’t think I had the time for them.

But Twitter is actually a time SAVER for me in regards to getting all the latest & greatest resources out there FAST!
http://TribalSeduction.com @CoachDeb

LMAO

Quote by Scoble:

“Markus: I think we have a reading problem here. I can’t help it if you can’t read fast.”

ooooh i can SO attest to how Twitter has turned me into SUCH a better speed reader!

I can’t believe how much I know about new media technology & resources for my clients ever since I joined TWitter & followed the early adopters. WOW! I never read this many blog posts before – b/c they often were “long” and I didn’t think I had the time for them.

But Twitter is actually a time SAVER for me in regards to getting all the latest & greatest resources out there FAST!
Gary Wisniewski

Somehow, social media “tools” have spawned a religion. It’s no longer good enough to look at a tool and assess it’s purpose and suitability. No, you have to believe that it is “the answer”. You have to believe that being an early adopter somehow imbues participants with insight which reaches beyond the specifics of a tool’s utility and into the very fabric of social quality. No longer are tools “suitable for some and not for others” but instead there are “new exciting tools” and “outmoded tools”. Tech tools have become the varsity badges of the winning team these days. It seems that typewriters are useless and new social technology tools are supremely good no matter how they are applied.

To me, this is utter horse shit.

If your job is to communicate, then you need communications tools. If your job doesn’t involve communication but, let’s say, requires that you invent new characters for a work of fiction, or derive a new chemical formula, or paint a landscape, you may require endless weeks of uninterrupted time. Some people thrive by being on top of things. Others thrive by being on the bottom of things.

Maybe some of those who use Twitter are the ones who don’t get it. Maybe they have never done anything which required six months of silence and uninterrupted concentration. The tech culture of absorb, regurgitate, and mash-up has its value. But, let’s not make it the only answer.
Gary Wisniewski

Somehow, social media “tools” have spawned a religion. It’s no longer good enough to look at a tool and assess it’s purpose and suitability. No, you have to believe that it is “the answer”. You have to believe that being an early adopter somehow imbues participants with insight which reaches beyond the specifics of a tool’s utility and into the very fabric of social quality. No longer are tools “suitable for some and not for others” but instead there are “new exciting tools” and “outmoded tools”. Tech tools have become the varsity badges of the winning team these days. It seems that typewriters are useless and new social technology tools are supremely good no matter how they are applied.

To me, this is utter horse shit.

If your job is to communicate, then you need communications tools. If your job doesn’t involve communication but, let’s say, requires that you invent new characters for a work of fiction, or derive a new chemical formula, or paint a landscape, you may require endless weeks of uninterrupted time. Some people thrive by being on top of things. Others thrive by being on the bottom of things.

Maybe some of those who use Twitter are the ones who don’t get it. Maybe they have never done anything which required six months of silence and uninterrupted concentration. The tech culture of absorb, regurgitate, and mash-up has its value. But, let’s not make it the only answer.
http://www.goebel.net/technews/ Markus Göbel’s Tech News Comme

I don’t want to see your cemetery photos nor does the age of a cameraman matter to me. Please stay focused on technology!

These new social media make the people bring up so much noise, simply because it’s technically possible. I see no difference in Twitter or Friendfeed.

Please no more tagging, hyperlinks and additional information! I am missing the good old technology magazines on paper, because they didn’t have distracting hyperlinks which always give me the feeling to miss something.

I hope they still exist.
http://www.goebel.net/technews/ Markus Göbel’s Tech News Comments

I don’t want to see your cemetery photos nor does the age of a cameraman matter to me. Please stay focused on technology!

These new social media make the people bring up so much noise, simply because it’s technically possible. I see no difference in Twitter or Friendfeed.

Please no more tagging, hyperlinks and additional information! I am missing the good old technology magazines on paper, because they didn’t have distracting hyperlinks which always give me the feeling to miss something.

I hope they still exist.
http://opendomain.blogspot.com/ Mary Zolinett

Wow… does this make you think, Robert???
http://opendomain.blogspot.com Mary Zolinett

Wow… does this make you think, Robert???
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http://www.zoliblog.com Zoli Erdos

Gee, Robert, changing diapers is not optional…
http://www.zoliblog.com Zoli Erdos

Gee, Robert, changing diapers is not optional…
toivo

It is good that Scoble has not lost the abilty to think and he is not totally blinded by twittery things.
toivo

It is good that Scoble has not lost the abilty to think and he is not totally blinded by twittery things.
http://scobleizer.com/ Robert Scoble

Zoli: that’s true, but WHO changes them IS optional. Sometimes.
http://scobleizer.com/ Robert Scoble

Zoli: that’s true, but WHO changes them IS optional. Sometimes.
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http://www.entrepremusings.com/ Aruni

Wonderful, well-written post. Wish I had been able to read it earlier. How we define productivity is what it comes down to. What you do is productive for you because you seem to enjoy doing it and it apparently ‘pays the bills.’

I think is trying to figure out what you really like to do and even if it appears non-productive to others it is productive to you and for you. I think ‘time’ is the element that we often overlook to figure that out for ourselves and our companies. It just takes time!
http://www.entrepremusings.com Aruni

Wonderful, well-written post. Wish I had been able to read it earlier. How we define productivity is what it comes down to. What you do is productive for you because you seem to enjoy doing it and it apparently ‘pays the bills.’

I think is trying to figure out what you really like to do and even if it appears non-productive to others it is productive to you and for you. I think ‘time’ is the element that we often overlook to figure that out for ourselves and our companies. It just takes time!
John Locastro (Jlo)

Technology is great for a number of reasons, including productivity and connecting with others.

At the end of the day with all things said and done……here’s the real true reason why we should use technology:

FROM: http://bullfrogsnbutterflies.blogspot.com/2008/05/power-of-mac.html

I dropped DH (dear husband) off at the airport last night for his 15 + 2 hour LA trip to Sydney, Australia. He is working over in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne for two weeks and then he heads to Malaysia and Singapore.

The girls and I miss him already!! I have to say though, I absolutely love my MacBook! DH landed a few hours ago safely and we just got done chatting via video iChat! I was sitting in my kitchen in suburbia Texas and he was at an Italian Cafe having a cappuccino outside in the heart of Sydney, Australia.

Isn’t that incredible?? It’s Sunday morning there…

Also, hubby’s cell phone died and he wasn’t at the hotel room so we communicated via our MacBook’s! As an added bonus, DH already took some great pictures of his view from the hotel room and already uploaded them to Flickr. Now when the girls wake up in the morning I can show them pictures of where daddy is at on the AppleTV. It just keeps getting better…

Thank you Apple!

BTW…tell terrystorch from lifechurch.tv I said hello….hope the Google conference is going well.
John Locastro (Jlo)

Technology is great for a number of reasons, including productivity and connecting with others.

At the end of the day with all things said and done……here’s the real true reason why we should use technology:

FROM: http://bullfrogsnbutterflies.blogspot.com/2008/05/power-of-mac.html

I dropped DH (dear husband) off at the airport last night for his 15 + 2 hour LA trip to Sydney, Australia. He is working over in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne for two weeks and then he heads to Malaysia and Singapore.

The girls and I miss him already!! I have to say though, I absolutely love my MacBook! DH landed a few hours ago safely and we just got done chatting via video iChat! I was sitting in my kitchen in suburbia Texas and he was at an Italian Cafe having a cappuccino outside in the heart of Sydney, Australia.

Isn’t that incredible?? It’s Sunday morning there…

Also, hubby’s cell phone died and he wasn’t at the hotel room so we communicated via our MacBook’s! As an added bonus, DH already took some great pictures of his view from the hotel room and already uploaded them to Flickr. Now when the girls wake up in the morning I can show them pictures of where daddy is at on the AppleTV. It just keeps getting better…

Thank you Apple!

BTW…tell terrystorch from lifechurch.tv I said hello….hope the Google conference is going well.
http://brentnewhall.com/ Brent P. Newhall

Bob Bly’s just lost this reader, alas.
http://brentnewhall.com/ Brent P. Newhall

Bob Bly’s just lost this reader, alas.
http://brentnewhall.com/ Brent P. Newhall

Hmmm. Looking at my comment again, I realize it’s unclear.

Bob made a solid point in his original letter to Scoble. His followup comments reveal an argumentative attitude towards a respected person. I’ve lost respect for him, which means I plan to avoid his work from now on. Might be good stuff, but I personally don’t put up with that.
http://brentnewhall.com/ Brent P. Newhall

Hmmm. Looking at my comment again, I realize it’s unclear.

Bob made a solid point in his original letter to Scoble. His followup comments reveal an argumentative attitude towards a respected person. I’ve lost respect for him, which means I plan to avoid his work from now on. Might be good stuff, but I personally don’t put up with that.
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http://www.FederalDirect.com/ Mark Amtower

As to the comment that Mr Bly started his blog AFTER his comment on blogging, that is simply not accurate. It was the first comment ON his blog.
http://www.FederalDirect.com Mark Amtower

As to the comment that Mr Bly started his blog AFTER his comment on blogging, that is simply not accurate. It was the first comment ON his blog.
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http://www.stupersocial.com/ Amanda MacArthur

Bob is a friend of mine so I have some bias on the subject, but I think what Bob is looking for is how social media and gadgets help a blogger/copywriter/author.

Not to say that he has no benefit in getting a facebook or twitter account (infact, I think Twitter is a great way for authors to sell books), but really, I think what Bob is missing is how SOME of this new technology is really about marketing more than anything.

Until you have a network of friends in social media, it’s really hard for someone to understand the benefit.

As a copywriter, he doesn’t necessarily need Google Docs or the latest cellphone to satisfy his copywriting clients. Everyone must stil use Microsoft Word in his client industry. If he had clients asking him to use Google Docs, he’d be using it by now.

And I think he might be probing you a little more than he is letting on in order to get a full response, as Bob has a blog and has copywritten, very well, on Internet marketing for some time now.
http://www.stupersocial.com Amanda MacArthur

Bob is a friend of mine so I have some bias on the subject, but I think what Bob is looking for is how social media and gadgets help a blogger/copywriter/author.

Not to say that he has no benefit in getting a facebook or twitter account (infact, I think Twitter is a great way for authors to sell books), but really, I think what Bob is missing is how SOME of this new technology is really about marketing more than anything.

Until you have a network of friends in social media, it’s really hard for someone to understand the benefit.

As a copywriter, he doesn’t necessarily need Google Docs or the latest cellphone to satisfy his copywriting clients. Everyone must stil use Microsoft Word in his client industry. If he had clients asking him to use Google Docs, he’d be using it by now.

And I think he might be probing you a little more than he is letting on in order to get a full response, as Bob has a blog and has copywritten, very well, on Internet marketing for some time now.
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http://globalneighbourhoods.net/ shel israel

Bob sounds like he should be reading me and not you. I wonder about what excites you as well sometimes. Let’s discuss in front of the camera today at the WorkFast rehearsal.

Scoble has a productivity problem

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