Dale Dougherty of O'Reilly Media was casting about the post-Web 2.0 world looking for a perfect technology to base his latest DIY venture on. After considering the high-tech options he found that the one technology that was the most immediate, communicative, and visually compelling was . . . paper.
His ventures, Make and Craft magazines, then formed a springboard for blogs, the Make website, and annual Maker Faires. In this talk he "sings the praises of print", reminding us not to make the mistake of focusing on the new while ignoring old technology. Dougherty reminds us that one of the most successful internet-based businesses today, Amazon.com, succeeded by selling books.
Contrasted with browsing the web, which he compares to the act of reading freeway signs, Dougherty points out books give us an immediate and tangible experience. Capable of more detail then a web page, the format provided the perfect medium to spread the word that it is not about "what we can buy, but what we can do." Dougherty feels that launching a water rocket is still more fun than launching a web browser. And a book is something you can share with others with no messy technical or legal details to get in the way.
In this talk from the Tools of Change series, he shows us how blending the old with the new still can provide the best business model and most compelling experience.
Dale Dougherty is the editor and publisher of MAKE, and general manager of the Maker Media division of O'Reilly Media, Inc. He also launched Maker Faire, a successful weekend event in the Bay Area, and in 2006, launched Craft Magazine. Dale has been instrumental in many of O'Reilly's most important efforts, including founding O'Reilly Media, Inc. with Tim O'Reilly. He was the developer and publisher of Global Network Navigator (GNN), the first commercial Web site which launched in 1993 and was sold to AOL in 1995. Dale was developer and publisher of Web Review, the online magazine for Web designers, and he was O'Reilly's first editor. Prior to developing MAKE, Dale was publisher of the O'Reilly Network and he developed the Hacks series of books. Dale is the author of "Sed & Awk." Dougherty was a Lecturer in the School of Information Management and Systems (SIMS) at the University of California at Berkeley from 1996 to 2000.
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This free podcast is from our Tools of Change Conference series.
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Photo: James Duncan Davidson