Michael's Mellow Moment - 27 Jan 07 - The Final Edition Hello and welcome to the final edition of Mike's Manic Minute, for January 27th, 2007, today only entitled, Michael's Mellow Moment. As always, brought to you by www.business-podcasting.com
One small step. . .
When I started podcasting in October of 2004 I, like my 11 other compatriots, had a dreamy vision of what podcasting would become. Blogging was just starting to enter the mainstream culture beyond the world of technology and had a major impact on the politics of 2004. Podcasting, although a natural outgrowth of the same urge to have an individual voice, was the purview of the ultra geeky few who had the necessary audio engineering skills, the technological prowess to manage to create a correctly formed RSS feed and the dedication to find something to say on a regular basis. Audio blogging and video blogging had already existed yet the new concept of automatically downloading the content, organizing it automatically and pushing it to the ever increasing population of portable music players was moving from dream to desire and eventually necessity as we all struggled to cope with the flow of information and entertainment created by inspired and now communicationally empowered individuals.
Two and a half years later Google no longer asks if you were searching for broadcasting when you search for podcasting and there are, by various measures, more than 30,000 podcasters with more starting up daily. No longer is there a need for a podcast that reports, filters and sometimes comments on the early adopters of this "new" phenomena. After a while it became apparent to me that I was adding less and less value with each Manic Minute I created. So I took a 6 month break and tried to think about what I really wanted to contribute.
As I have lived through those past 6 months I recently recalled that when I moved to Seattle two years ago I made a conscious decision to answer the perennial question, "Do you go by Mike or Michael" with "Michael" instead of the "Either way" answer I'd given all my life. Interestingly, at least to me, I think this has had an impact on the way that I perceive my work, my interactions with others and even the relationship of lifelong friends .
Finally, technology has grown in its importance in and impact on the day-to-day lives of not only the technologically enamored but the broader mainstream of society. In 1991, Geoffrey Moore wrote a book called "Crossing the Chasm" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossing_the_Chasm) in which he extrapolates from the Technology Adoption Lifecycle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technology_Adoption_LifeCycle) originally developed at my alma mater, Iowa State University (http://www.iastate.edu/) which describes a process in which the first group of people to use a new product called innovators, are followed by early adopters, the early and late majority, and the finally the laggards. Podcasting is, in my opinion, now in the early majority phase and thus needs less and less "evangelism" of the kind I had been doing "nearly daily".
So. . . as many sentences begin at the world's largest software company, I have decided to retire the Manic Minute and begin a new venture.
One Giant Leap. . .
After today, I am starting a new blog/podcast entitled "The New Way" which will be co-located here at www.softwareland.org and at www.the-new-way.net. "The New Way" will be a weekly podcast commentary on not only how technology influences our lives but more importantly a critical conversation about whether or not technological gadgets, products and services all touted as "advances" are good, ethical and in concert with a healthy and happy life. In addition to my own thoughts, "The New Way" will also feature comments from listeners, both audio and textual, and interviews with future gazers, guest bloggers and podcasters.
One Final Song. . .
For those, at least all two of you, who might have wondered what the theme song for the Manic Minute was really all about. . . Here's the "consensus reality" version of "Just Listen Please" which I used as the musical theme for the Manic Minute. . .
The Last Hurrah. . .
And so, for the last time. . .this is Michael Lehman saying...
that's your Manic Minute, well Mellow Moment, for January 27th, 2007, brought to you by www.business-podcasting.com . . .
10:27:38 AM 
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