Aboard the Cluetrain

The Cluetrain Manifesto, by Christopher Locke, Rick Levine, Doc Searles and David Weinberger, 1999 (read 2007)

As Billy Joel sang, don't ask me why. Why, that is, I Googled cluetrain one day and found the Cluetrain Manifesto. I think it might have had to do with something I read from Clay Shirky or Chris Anderson or David Weinberger or another of those modern types who seem to keep popping up everywhere I turn. Don't you love it when the world cooperates by letting you believe there is a benevolent conspiracy to make sure you get the word from, oh, five or six different angles? I know I do.

The aprocryphal story behind the title is that supposedly a corporate guy at a company free-falling into non-being said "the cluetrain" stopped by several days a day for years, and they never took delivery. The moral - get on board, get the clue, read the 95 Theses and get with the program.

Oh, you want content? You see, the darn thing says it so well and it's not that long anyway, so it's tempting to just tease and tease and say go read it already. But since you insist, OK, less hype and more specifics. Here's how it boils down for me.

Companies need to make best use of the Internet or customers will do business with those that do. Businesses also need to make best use of their intranets, or employees will be hampered in their natural drive to do their best work, and do it efficiently.

By the way, it is available in book form, but the link above leads to the entire thing online. Such a deal.