During the recent discussion on “Do You Need a Resume?” we were reminded that not everyone is online or knows how to find you online. Many people are still scared of technology, don’t understand it or are just plain ignorant of what…

1. how do we make good tech more accessible to people so it’s OBVIOUS to them that it’s useful, why it’s useful, and that it’ll make things better (without making things work)? that I think is your interest – a noble one. for me, part of that is about getting people to listen to great audio that they would love to hear on the radio, but will not seek out or listen to on the computer.

2. some people just don’t want what techies are selling … they don’t want more information, more connection, more tech. they want less.

3. radio & tv took decades each to get adopted … but kids (at least wealthy ones with access to tech) eat this stuff like candy. funny thing i heard, from a 12-yr-old: “email is for old people!” that is, the kids are going to absorb it all, and worries about adoption of this round will slowly fade away. tho others will be wondering the same thing about a different set of new technologies in 10, 20 and 100 years.

Sit back and come up with interesting things to say about it.

Don’t just write. Sit back and come up with interesting things to say. So that your fingers are itching for the keyboard. Reach for inspiration. Sure you can do it. It’s important enough.

Sit back and come up with interesting things to say. So that you’d want to repeat it. So you wouldn’t want to lose it. So that you’d walk through the dungeons of Hades to locate a -page- to save it upon. Why not?

Insist on a level of excellence. Not just something clever, or reasoned. Not just in contrast to something, or in defense of something. Not in your language, or the language of your circle. Not poetic, not antagonistic – or not overly so.

Make a statement for all time. And all people. Read Samuel Johnson. And Will Durant. They knew how to do this. Read a book of aphorisms. Be quotable. Build a meme.

At least give it a shot. Sit back and think how this could affect things. Touch other domains. Think of something counter-intuitive. Be bold, then dial it back to a human level. Pace. Imagine explaining it to Ben Franklin. Ask what’s missing? Tie it to something else that resonates within you. Find what binds this to all souls.

And 90% of the time, just let it go. If the conscious brain doesn’t do what I’ve described above, the subconscious brain will. It takes a conscious effort to keep this from happening — usually the act itself of writing, or saying something before its time.

I’ve recently watched movie Shaolin soccer ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0286112/ ). It’s a comedy about a man who tries to promote martial art skills, because he thinks they could help normal people in everyday lives.

Try to watch it, and every time martial arts or kung fu is mentioned, replace it with technology.

Knowing kung fu would probably help me, I’d have better control of my body, my back wouldn’t hurt, and I would probably get rid of RSI injuries…

But the truth is, day only has 24h, and we must decide where to spend them. For some people it’s kung fu, for others it’s new technology, and let’s hope that some of both comes to everyday lives.

You’re on a very noble quest of bridging the gaps of two worlds, but the fact is that those gaps will always be there, simply as a consequence of time geeks spend on learning about technology. We are always ahead of the curve, and we’ll always be there, but it’s important to have people like you trying to push some established technologies to the rest of the world.

And the rest of the world will adopt them when they become ready.

A couple of years ago people talked about the ‘adoption of RSS’. This was, and remains, a silly phrase. When the web first appeared, people did not adopt HTML, CSS, Javascript and more… they started seeing web sites that interested them, let them do things in new ways, etc. Amazon was a much easier way to buy a book if you didn’t want to go to the store or the store didn’t have the book you wanted. CNN.com was a new way to get news. Social networks are new way to relate to people. Very few of the people who use these and tens of millions of other sites care at all about the technology behind them. In the same way, people will never ‘adopt RSS’. They will start using new products that RSS and related technologies make possible.

Finally, you aren’t going to get the mass of people to be early adopters… that’s inherently contradictory. But you can and will see most people adopt things that are useful in their lives. They did it with office software, email, IM. They’re doing it with social networking software and online video. They’re continue to do it, but NOT because you try to explain the technology. They’ll do it because you create fun, useful or compelling products.

http://www.messagingtimes.com/blog/?p=58

All the best

Tom