I have seen the future, or more precisely, little pieces of the future protruding into the present. 
Barnes &Nobel has unwrapped its e-reader, dubbed "Nook," which is intentionally crippled by its corporate masters. But it won't stay that way.
There is a great disturbance in the Force today; lots of 140-character mini-rants about CJR's "The Reconstruction of American Journalism" by Len Downie and Michael Shudson.
Apparently no one is happy. Some of the reactions are puzzling, apparently aimed at some other enemy, sort of like the way people rant about an imaginary grandma-killing Obama at a health-care town hall meeting.
I've been running successful online communities since the mid-1980s when I first got a modem, discovered bulletin boards, and wound up running one. Over the years I've discovered a few things about how to do it right. Here are seven keys to the kingdom:
Quit whining that it's so much trouble to deal with commenting and community interaction. That's why they call it work. Be glad you have a chance to do it.
I've simplified my thinking about the Mobile Web. After years of hating everything about cellphone companies, subscription "plans," half-baked "standards," slow connections, crappy phone software and inept vendors, it's all becoming clear:
Howard Owens' declaration that the original sin of newspapers was "Keeping online units tethered to the mother ship" is the subject of much chatter this morning. Having been on more than one side of that question, and having been one of the originals, I categorically reject the notion of any "original sin."
Knock on wood. We may be at the bottom of the worst economic recession this generation has seen. And Gordon Borrell is predicting we'll see a rebound in newspaper revenues in 2010.
Happy days will not be here again, but perhaps we can at least stop the Imminent Death of Journalism funeral march.
In 1965, before a lot of you were born, Eric Burdon of the Animals sang these lines:
But I'm just a soul whose intentions are good:
Oh Lord! Please don't let me be misunderstood ...
That's the background music. Here's the story.
