December 1st, 2006

Surowiecki’s In Praise of Third Place

by Joshua Porter  |   12 Comments

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innovation while being in third place in the gaming industry…a position they fell to after their initial system was superseded by the Playstation (Nintendo…that system we all know and love…Contra anyone?)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.

Comments ( 12 Responses so far )

1.  Mark Henderson on December 1st, 2006 (Comment) #

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 on December 1st, 2006 (Comment) #

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 on December 2nd, 2006 (Comment) #

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

4.  siftee on December 2nd, 2006 (Comment) #

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 on December 2nd, 2006 (Comment) #

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 on December 2nd, 2006 (Comment) #

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

7.  Ben on December 3rd, 2006 (Comment) #

Crono Trigger on SNES For The Win. I can’t even read the Japanese (NTSC-J cart) but the game still rocks.

:-)

8.  victor on December 15th, 2006 (Comment) #

good site for online shopping, http://www.indiaflowerplaza.com

9.  victor on December 26th, 2006 (Comment) #

good site for bangalore shopping, http://www.bangaloreonlinemall.com

10.  Tapety on February 18th, 2007 (Comment) #

I remember when I play Contra, Micro Machines, BigNose, Tanks, Dizzy when i was young… great games

Em there are the comments with the advertisement..

Ps. can I also adv a gaming site? gaming

11.  Flower to india on May 1st, 2007 (Comment) #

Flower to india door delivery

12.  Annie on October 31st, 2007 (Comment) #

Develop and Design your website with experts and make a professional looking website to you and your business. visit here Web Design Experts

Add Your Comment

Accepted tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong> .

Preview...

If your comment contains links, or if it is your destiny, your comment may not show up immediately. I'll approve it as soon as I can. (I delete dozens of comment spams per day)

Get updated when someone posts a comment: Comment Feed


ABOUT

Bokardo is the blog of Joshua Porter, a web designer/developer, researcher, and writer. I live in Newburyport, MA, USA.

WHAT IS SOCIAL DESIGN?

Social design is design that focuses on the social lives of users. It deals with the activities, behaviors, and motivations of people who work and play together through software interfaces. It is built on the observation that many of the decisions we make are greatly affected by those we surround ourselves with in our social lives: our family, friends, and colleagues. Exploring our motivations and how to design interfaces to support them is what the Bokardo blog is all about.

Designing for the Social Web

Building a social web site or application? I wrote a book just for you!

designing for the social web

Find out more or order from Peachpit or Amazon

Upcoming Speaking Events