The Wire is coming...
In the 3rd season of The Wire the show asks the question, "What if a college educated, MBA-toting, charismatic individual stepped up to run a street gang and then ran it like he would a legitimate business?" An interesting premise to be sure - and it made for great television.
I thought it was interesting, but far fetched. I mean seriously - who, after investing so much in their education, would resort to such a lifestyle and profession. It seems so counter-intuitive.
And then I read Freakonomics in which just such an individual is profiled. What a great chapter.
Just when I thought I found a book to help me stop watching television and start reading again, I find a book that reminds me of television. And what's worse is that The Wire's Fourth Season is getting ready to start.
If you have not seen this show - you should Netflix it, or start watching it. And wait till you get to the third season in which this Drug Dealer with an MBA starts talking not about "drugs," but about "product." That the key to getting and keeping customers is not fear, its not territory, its about producing the best product. I love it.
So it makes me wonder - perhaps the model works both ways? Perhaps us Web 2.0 junkies should stop thinking about our products as "products" and start thinking of them as "drugs?" There is something to that right? Certainly I have heard more than one person call Vox addictive...
Side note: I wish I could find teleplays of the show - this is the best I could do:
...what corner we got, what projects. Game ain't about that no more. It's about product. Yeah. We got the best goddamn products and we going to sell no matter where we are, right? Product,...
Comments
Us Web 2.0 junkies?!?
The needle's in your arm my friend, NOT mine.
And it feels soooo good. Except it leaves me with a horrible headache every morning. But you know what they say about "a hair of the dog that bit you."
um, wasn't that the whole premise behind 'new jack city'?
That chapter was one of the most interesting in the book. I also found it interesting how they showed how the crime rate drop was actually from all the unborn babies that were aborted, after abortion became legal. Something I'm sure people don't want to hear. I thought the data was quite convincing in the book.
Todd - you really like pushing people's buttons don't you?
The Wire is one excellent tv series. Oh, but it's not TV, it's...
You know what... I am learning that I am surrounded by people in this world who are completely comfortable making things up in their mind, then slapping a bumper sticker on their car to promote the thought - without any real logic or reality behind it. This fascinates me, and I continue to question how these people make up their minds the way they do. Maybe that's pushing buttons, but I think it's also just me trying to better understand how these people think, in order to better live and work with them.
BTW, I just got back from beers with an old friend who told me he doesn't trust the government. I asked him why, and he could not tell me a single reason. That's what I'm talking about. I don't get it. How can I let that slide by me without asking them why they make such a comment? I can't.