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It was as if the novel was already written, floating in the air, on a network of electrons. I could hear it talking to itself. I sensed that if I would be still and listen, it would come through, all ready.
-- A. S. Byatt


 

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It's Alive!

 

Yep, my computer is once again up and running. It turns out that Google Earth so tried my video card (a Radeon something) that it literally fried it. There were burns on my video card, which explained the smell of burnt plastic that I noticed that night. But after a new card, I'm back at the keyboard. Woo hoo!

I've been doing lots of thinking lately about the difference between content and attention. Said another way: product and marketing. Said yet another way: quality vs. quantity. The best movie is generally not the most trafficked, and the most trafficked doesn't win any Oscars. Content is the realm of the artist, but not the realm of the wealthy. Want money? You open a McDonald's, not a chef'd restaurant. Capiche?

Content is complicated.
Attention is simple.

For example, if you want your kid to pay attention to what you write in a note, flowery words and careful passages will take a very back seat to brevity.

"Johnny, I hope that you had a wonderful day at school. I spent the morning cleaning up and managed to make some cookies, now stowed away in a place where you can't find them - so don't try. You can have some when I get back. But before I do get back, could you take out the trash?"

Or...

"Johnny, take out the trash before I get home."

Which note sees the trash taken out?

Attention is both immediate attraction and sustained attraction. I might capture an audience, but can I hold it? If I can, I'll be rewarded for it. But I could create the most beautiful content ever, and if I can't get anyone to look at it, what does it matter?

Attention is greater than content. Best if there's both, but it's cart and horse, and the horsepower is in the attention.

ETC: I'm reminded of something I tell myself often - "Love is spelled T-I-M-E." Anyone who kids themselves that quality is more important than quantity when it comes to relationships is kidding themselves.

 


by Brett Rogers, 9/28/2006 1:06:42 AM
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