Colloquium at Stanford
The Unfinished Revolution


Memorandum

Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2000 23:16:27 -0600

From:   Jon Winters
winters@obscurasite.com
Organization: Obscura!
Reply-To: unrev-II@onelist.com

To:     Henry van Eyken
vaneyken@sympatico.ca
unrev-II@onelist.com'

Subject:   Executive initiative


Henry van Eyken wrote Wed, 15 Mar 2000 16:03:25

1. I am not quite sure about those older executives not "understanding" technology. Besides, the understanding called for, it seems to me, is understanding technology in total, worldwide human context, not in isolation.

I can only speak about the older executives that I have come into contact with. They have been, for the most part, good managers but they have long since stopped 'keeping up with' technology. The folks I have been working continually resist change and are only just now warming up to the idea of using the world wide web.

Henry van Eyken wrote Wed, 15 Mar 2000 16:03:25

2. Isn't it fair to say that the kind of people we are talking about, i.e. retired executives and managers with a social interest, have during their working lives laid the foundation that permitted some young people to become wealthy in a short time?

You are correct and I should have left money out of my post. I think I'm a bit frustrated that Doug has been working on his bootstrapping concepts since before I was born and I don't see all that much momentum.

Something like Napster on the other hand has gone from nothing to millions users swapping hundreds of millions of files in a matter of months. Napster is even being banned at some colleges because it is being used to the point of clogging the network infrastructure.


Henry van Eyken wrote Wed, 15 Mar 2000 16:03:25

3. Are savvy people of the younger generation willing to chuck the pursuit of personal success in order to work toward solving humankind's most urgent, complex problems?

There are a _lot_ of people in my generation who would donate time to work on this stuff just for the oppurtunity to be involved in the solution. Recognition drives many open source developers. Jobs and money will come later on if you are good and your name is turning up as having developed successful open source projects.

I donate time and energy to Gimp, Gphoto, Gnome, OpenVerse, and PageCast. I also host a Boy Scout troops web site, toycamera.org and NewBug.org. None of that stuff pays me a penny but I continue to spend many hours every week working on it. I hope to find a place where I can help out with bootstrapping in the future.

Henry van Eyken wrote Wed, 15 Mar 2000 16:03:25

And have they the needed insights and skills to actually make a contribution where it is so urgently needed?

I think so... otherwise I wouldn't have made the post. Please don't misunderstand.. I'm not bashing the old timers or anything... just trying to stir up some interest in getting younger folks involved.


Henry van Eyken wrote Wed, 15 Mar 2000 16:03:25

4. If we don't find people prepared to work hard on developing the methods we need to cope with mankind's urgent problems, might not those savvy, young millionnaires find out one day hat their wealth will not do them or anyone else much good?

I was not suggesting we go after young millionaires... they will be more interested in partying it up and wrecking fast cars than bootstrapping... I thought it might be nice to seek out some younger folks who have not been told 'you can't do that' a million times and tap some of their un-polluted ideas.


Henry van Eyken wrote Wed, 15 Mar 2000 16:03:25

5. With accelerating change all around us, those savvy, young millionnaires may find themselves relegated to the scrap heap rather sooner than they bargained for -- 12 years, say, instead of 40. Just imagine, if humans ever make it that far, how the generation that follows them may outpace them in short order.

Most children today know more about computers than their parents. (most adults with living parents know more as well)


Henry van Eyken wrote Wed, 15 Mar 2000 16:03:25

6. Come to think of it, "success" may well turn out to be one of the hardest and most dangerous paradigms ever to dispose of.

I'm in total agreement with you there. I have read some stuff written by Eric S. Raymond and his concepts about "gift culture" and how it relates to the Open Source software movement. It has really stuck with me. Not a day goes by that I don't think about it. Its easy to volunteer a little time every day on a project that I feel is important.

Henry van Eyken wrote Wed, 15 Mar 2000 16:03:25

Of course, none of these answers eliminate the fact that you offered valid points for consideration.

What we need is multi-generational input. (from as many different cultures as possible)

Henry van Eyken wrote Wed, 15 Mar 2000 16:03:25

BTW, Doug Engelbart is 75. By golly, three years my senior!

Thinking about it a bit more.... In a virtual community age is much less of a factor. I was talking to some friends in OpenVerse one night and someone asked how old everyone was. I was surprised to learn the ages. Some folks were older than I thought they would be and others were a LOT younger.

Sincerely,



Jon Winters
winters@obscurasite.com
http://www.obscurasite.com/jon/

"Everybody Loves The GIMP!"
http://www.gimp.org/