During this conversation and a few others I've been involved with
recently, I *am* becoming more aware of just how many groups I'm
involved in and how they impact the web. And yes, the full power set
is a long way from happening, Reed merely is pointing out a term in
the equation, one with a *very* small multiplier!
So recent groups I've been involved in have included:
- LinkedIn going through some sort of tipping point .. my getting
lots more notifications. And indeed like others have mentioned, I
find myself rejecting lots of folks I don't remember or don't
particularly consider close. But the reverse is true also .. within
just the last month I've gotten something like 6 echos from the past
that really were nice to re-connect with. And I don't mind at all
its work related .. I formed a lot of great relationships in the last
35 years!
- iPhone: Several friends (Apple and Sun connections) are
discussing the iPhone, and naturally drinking the KoolAid together.
But the fact the conversation has holding power was interesting to me
and I suspect it will continue for a couple of years.
- TNT Geeks: One project I worked on was The NeWS Toolkit.
Fascinating PostScript based windowing system. Well we've held
together over 15 years with very low interactions. But recently one
of us had a moment of fame when his entire Stanford computer account
was discovered. He (Don Woods) was famous for taking one of the
original text based games and refining it considerably. When the
discussion bloomed, lots of interesting things got discussed about
the game and its evolution.
- Family: Our wider family circle is becoming much closer now that
the web/internet is available. Recently we've had one of us with
cancer treatments and the news generally gets spread via email, along
with digital photographs being useful for sharing memories.
Hmm..maybe we need to include the Family Set as a "relation" to the
Power Set!
- Friendship: I've got several groups of friends that for some
undefinable reason have formed clusters, mainly based on interest.
One is an ex-Sun friend who's joined (shutter) Microsoft, but is
doing Mac related work there. Another is a bunch of Phonies .. folks
interested in phones in general, and even includes the Linux Motorola
guru.
And I could go on, but its certainly a part of reeds law, I now
observe. And I'm amazed how strong the bonds are, however informal.
Many are not formal email lists or forums, but a CC list that one
remembers to always use.
I bet several of the rest of us also have been seeing more of this
clustering in their world too.
-- Owen
============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
