Here Comes Everybody starts off with a story of a stolen sidekick and how a group formed via commonly available social networking tools tracked down the thief, changed the NYPD’s approach to the problem, and subsequently got the property returned.
I remember when that particular story broke, and I remember visiting the site set-up to handle the hoopla. At the time, I couldn’t tell you why it had a larger significance. That’s what Clay Shirky does so well.
The upshot? The convenience of ubiquitous tools and the will to form spur-of-the-moment communities has changed society. Where we go from here and how we deal with the fall-out of new freedoms and shaken institutions is unclear, but the challenge is before us.
My biggest complaints about the book? That I lived through most of the examples and used most of the services that he wrote about, but didn’t get a book deal out of it. That, and it’s not written for me. I already know this stuff so I found it a little boring.
It’s a thoughtful observation on our changing times, and I recommend it if you’ve been completely unaware of recent shifts on the Internet. However, if you don’t want to buy the book (or borrow it from me), you can get a good deal of it from his presentation here.
[Available at Amazon]
I thought of the perfect birthday gift today for a good friend. She’s interested in learning Spanish, has a natural curiosity about the ins and outs of colloquial terms, and has successfully learned a language on her own. She can sling slang in two countries so I thought I’d pick up a set of Pimsleur CDs or audio tapes so she could get started in another. Great idea, huh?
The problem is I have no way to shop for such a gift on-line. Why? She’s a native Japanese speaker and I wanted to get her a “Japanese – Spanish” set of learning materials.
Have you ever tried shopping for language aides? Sites like Amazon, or even Pimsleur make the assumption that since you’re coming to the site via an English IP, then you must be looking for an “English – Other” set of tools. There’s no way to change the context of what I’m searching for to get rid of this underlying assumption. It’s frustrating.
In the past, I have purchased items from Amazon’s German site but that only works because I know what I’m looking for, because the interface between the two sites is similar, and because I can use Babelfish to figure out words I’m unfamiliar with. It didn’t work well in this case.
I don’t know of a brick and mortar store to consult, so I think this idea is toast. I’m back to square one for ideas! Ack!

Word Scramble!