Surowiecki’s In Praise of Third Place

by Joshua Porter | 12 Comments | shortlink: http://bokardo.com/p/522

Lots of folks have been linking to this, and it’s really good so I thought I would, too.

James Surowiecki, author of The Wisdom of Crowds, has written a great piece: In Praise of Third Place, which details Nintendo’s innovation while being in third place in the gaming industry…a position they fell to after their initial system was superseded by the Playstation (Nintendo…that system we all know and love…Contra anyone?)

This piece brings two thoughts to mind.

First, it could almost be written about Apple…innovating to make the best-of-breed hardware and software with market share a lower-level priority…not trying to be everything to everyone. The moment market share becomes top priority, you slowly erode the magic that is attention to detail.

Second, it shows how great a writer Surowiecki is. He’s more than relevant, he’s leading the discussion, not following awkwardly, a criticism some folks like to levy against traditional publishing outlets. As blogging matures, the criticism is growing, led by Mike Arrington, and for many publications Mike’s right, they are slow and awkward. But Surowiecki is a true exception…he’s a better writer than any blogger I know of, and he writes current, interesting pieces on a regular basis. And, his book, as well as any other, has become a critical work in figuring out and explaining the networked world we live in.

Surowiecki’s In Praise of Third Place |

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Comments

1. Mark Henderson 10:04am, Fri 1st, 2006

Haha – you’re not a gamer (as mentioned in the podcast the other day). Playstation was an extension of Nintendo’s second (home) console and took the rings from Nintendo’s third system.

Anyway, this is a great article. And as an entrepreneur, I am always thinking about being the “big dog” market leader or on the cusp of the oh so important tipping point of the next great idea. With that approach, it’s kinda hard to stay focused on your customer and what is important to their needs.

2. Josh 11:00am, Fri 1st, 2006

Yes, Mark, I’m not a gamer. I guess the “initial” gave me away, as the first Nintendo system was the only version of Nintendo I played. (I did play it quite a bit, however…Contra especially) But I soon lost touch with gaming, and there could have been 5 more Nintendos in the interim for all I know.

3. Pramit Singh 2:03am, Sat 2nd, 2006

Good observation. Malcolm Gladwell and Michael Lewis are writers of the same calibre as well.

4. siftee 3:16am, Sat 2nd, 2006

i like the article as well, but you are way off saying that it could have been written about apple. what a load of crap. for a company with so little market share apple has a lot of hardware problems and how can you prove it’s best-of-breed??

for further reading…
http://zedshaw.com/rants/apple_sux.html
http://www.engadget.com/2006/12/01/screen-flickering-problem-plagues-macbooks/ and there are thousands more…

5. Josh 5:51am, Sat 2nd, 2006

Siftee, I’m going to take your bait and say this: even with the problems mentioned on Engadget…what PC-based laptop, pray tell, even compares with a sub-optimal Mac?

I happen to have had 3 kick-ass Powerbook/MacBook Pros in a row, but I would gladly take a Macbook with a fixable flickering screen problem than any virus-ridden Windows box anyday.

Look and ask around, ask everyone you know…what company is spreading laptop joy?

It’s Apple.

6. Josh 5:52am, Sat 2nd, 2006

Pramit, you’re right! Those two are excellent, and I would add Christopher Anderson and Barry Schwartz as well. Thanks!

7. Ben 7:21pm, Sun 3rd, 2006