OK, OK, I know, yet another bad Dylan quote. Couldn't resist though. (Oh crap, I guess the lyrics say "edges" not "borders." Oh well, fuck it. Close enough for government work.)

Here, I'm quoting myself from a three-round email debate with IBM's John Patrick:

You say the Net is transferring power from institutions to people, and I strongly agree. But that means that it's high time for companies to stop asking how business can use, leverage, exploit, and otherwise take advantage of the Internet -- and to start asking what "the people" are actually using it for. In most cases, the promise we see as "outsiders" is precisely not to become more efficient, friction-free consumers, but instead to become more fully human. As I wrote in my gonzo musings, "We are more than is dreamed in your marketing plan, Horatio."

So, yeah, I freely admit it: I'm far less interested in the bells and whistles of the Next Generation Internet than I am in the quality of mind and heart that will bring about the Next Generation Civilization. Net or not, that's the attitude I care about promoting. Inside or out, that's our ticket to ride.