Who does he think he is?

Monday, February 05, 2007 by Dave Winer.

I think many times when you know something that other people don't -- it's simply because you're standing some place where you can see something that you can't see if you're standing somewhere else. It's not because one person is smarter, or somehow better than others, it's just a point of view that's making seeing possible. 

For example, no doubt people in public radio would think some of the stuff I wrote on Saturday is arrogant, who does he think he is, what makes him so special, why does he think he's so smart. He really isn't that smart, he doesn't know anything about public radio, why should we listen to him? 

I'm like the guy who can see a truck coming, and you're standing in its path. Why do I see it? Because it hit me a number of years ago, and to the extent that I saw it coming, I ignored it, no one else seemed worried, so why should I? Bad strategy. The truck is coming anyway, might as well factor that into your thinking. And maybe I'm wrong, in which case listening won't hurt, might waste a little time, but then we waste so much time worrying about who he thinks he is and why should you listen, that a little more wasted time doesn't seem so bad. 

In 2000 I naively thought the music industry wanted to know why its users were suddenly so excited about their product. The idea that I could program my own music was incredibly enabling. People were talking about music in the supermarket and on the subway. Now we live in a world where our lives have their own personal soundtracks. We're all John Travolta when we walk down the street, Stayin Alive in our own little worlds where we program the music not some DJ in a booth somewhere far away. I went to one of their conferences and gave a talk, and told them how I, as a user, was rediscovering their product. To say they didn't want to hear it is an understatement. They called me names, shouted at me, held me responsible for their businesses. I tried to tell them money wasn't the issue, empowerment was. But they didn't want to hear.  

They saw a truck coming, and they planned to hold their ground. Now, seven years later, it seems someone should ask, as Dr Phil might: How well did that work?  

I love public radio. I'm going to put that up on the screen while I talk. I love everything about public radio. That's why I want to see it kick ass in the new world where the former audience is using the public airwaves to communicate with each other. I want the pros in public radio to teach us how to do it, so there will be 100,000 public radio stations in the U.S. by the end of next year. Far-fectched? At one point people thought 100,000 blogs was a dream.