It’s an aside to Kathryn Greenhill’s larger point, that all this 2.0 stuff is about a shifting power to the user, but she places L2 somewhere on Ghandi’s continuum of change between ridicule and fight.
The photo above (original by Monster) is in support of Greenhill’s larger point: control is shifting. Trains were once seen as icons of freedom, but that view changed with the development of the automobile — and the way it shifted control of routes and schedules from the railroad to the driver.
We’ve been arguing transportation policy for a long time since, but here’s a simple fact: railroads didn’t realize they were competing against automobiles until it was too late.
Who are you competing against?
2 Comments
Ah ! Ghandi. Thank you so much. I read this quote in the early 90’s, and since then could never quite get the wording right when I searched to find the origin. I was trying things like “evolution of ideas”.
I think the piece I read back in the early 90’s actually took this quote and applied it to the evolution of ideas. I’ll have to hunt it down - as I have a better lead now - thanks.
So - does this analogy make you and John and Dave on a par with the drivers of the first Model T’s ?
@Kathryn:
You just inspired me to again look for lessons about the future of libraries based on the history of transportation (I’m open to other fields too, transportation is just so convenient lately). It turns out I might rather be Edsel Ford.
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[...] competition and change management, but just as I figured I was done with it for the week, a comment from Kathryn Greenhill regarding Model Ts got me going [...]
[...] Casey Bisson 則以éµè·¯æ›¾ç¶“是自由的象徵，但後來被汽車所å–代的例åä¾†æ”¯æŒ Greenhill 關於 “control is shifting” 的看法。 [...]
[...] slides for my main talk are online in Quicktime and PDF format. Extra: how the steam engine relates to all this. Related:Organizational/Institutional Blogging Done RightLate Notes From October Library [...]
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