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Top Five Digital World Reads (for today anyway)
Some of the best "digital world" thinking out there is available simply by spending a few hours with a book in your hands. Or an mp3 player. Or a Kindle...
Posted 10/27/2008
As I was thinking tonight about my presentation at WFX next week, it occurred to me that the challenge isn't in what to say, but in what to leave out. After all, there is a lot of ground to cover when talking about strategies in a digital world.
So, I thought I would list some of the books out there that are worth your time. The ones that will have impact on the way you do ministry. The ones that can inspire you to think of things no one else has thought of before. (Think of your brain as a bit of an alchemist. Jumbling up all the ideas and producing something new and wonderful.)
Okay. Here it is. The top 5:
The Millennium Matrix by Rex Miller. The Millennium Matrix is probably the best overview out there about what is happening and why. More significantly, the book spends time not only on what is happening in culture, but also in what is happening in the church. If you are truly interesting in understanding why all of this matters, Rex's book is a good place to start.
Wikinomics by Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams. The tag line for this one is "how mass collaboration changes everything." As the highly customizable, participatory world of Web 2.0 begins to both reflect and create change in the culture, Wikinomics does a great job of capturing how you can leverage the shift.
Everything is Miscellaneous by David Weinberger. Weinberger does an amazing job of explaining how the way we arrange and present knowledge influences the way we think about it, and why search engines, datamining and tagging are rearranging everything.
The Long Tail by Chris Anderson. Okay, I have to admit, this one is a bit of a difficult read, but it does a fabulous job of explaining why you don't have to go for the "big hit" anymore and how there is value in "the long tail." In many ways, the 80/20 rule has been flipped.
Sisomo by Kevin Roberts. Kevin Roberts talks about communicating through screens. The interesting thing is that he doesn't differentiate between televisions, cell phones, computers, etc. It is all just screens. Another interesting point is that he mentions that psychological studies show that people interact with screens the same way they interact with people. But then, anyone currently doing video venues already knows this.
Bonus: If you haven't discovered TED.com yet, take the time to view Clay Shirky's talk on Institutions vs. Collaboration. Like all the talks on TED, it is 20 minutes long. (You might also enjoy Billy Graham's talk too.)
Okay, now back to working on the presentation. See you next week!
Cathy Hutchison is a freelance writer and the Director of Connection for Acoustic Dimensions. She can be reached at chutchison@acousticdimensions.com. See http://www.acousticdimensions.com/.
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