Conversation Agent turns nine today. It's been quite a journey -- 2787 posts since that very first one. From the beginning it has been about choosing what to read and think about. It has also been the place to experiment, understand, and accelerate learning.
With social networks siphoning most of the attention and time, we comment and interact less, much less. Most of my interactions are still by email, so social network activity is just the tip of the iceberg.
Newsletters are good because they are self-contained. Many of the newsletters that make the rounds are by a handful people, and I figured I was reading pretty much off a similar list. I added and pared down a few since publishing. The idea is to keep what intrigues -- no need to collect more content to read later.
So I started a newsletter to share more of what I read and think about in the process of learning from more diverse sources. In a futuristic post titled Web 3.0 Artificial Intelligence Agents will be Conversation Agents (November 2007), I said pull technology would replace push completely. It kind of does since all the link sharing involves very little story reading, mostly reactions to clever titles.
Other things I said involve the intersection of technology, business, and media, and how we make do in several areas, including on security. I talked about:
1. Dealing with data
2. Growth of networks
3. End of selling as pitches and the beginning of the true era of conversation
4. Opt-in email
5. Dealing with bandwidth
*encryption and security
All topics that are still current and top of mind. If you're curious, go read the post.
This summer I took time to reflect on themes that are important to make sense of what is now-to-next -- the art and science of decision-making, how curiosity leads to a bigger life, and connecting power and purpose. This is the direction of my body of work, and I intend to keep building. Amy Hoy says it better:
“Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot; but make it hot by striking.”
[image via Pixabay CC0 Public Domain]