Got an email from a good friend after this post on online vs. offline.  Jim gave me my first product manager job and was a great guy to work with…am still trying to figure out a way to work together again at some point. 

He taught me some valuable things about product management including that product folks will tell you the truth sans spin when asked a question and that building software is like making sausage (apologies in advance to you vegetarians out there) – you don’t want to see it being made but the end product is fantastic.

 

Anyway, here is some text from his email:

…just continued decentralization…Sun had it right — the network is the computer and that’s where Google is going.  The Telecoms never adjusted and now Microsoft must adjust….Dumb pipes, smart peripherals, data storage costs zero, unconstrained bandwidth (this is the real kicker).

He goes on to point out that a good read on this is George Gilder’s Telecosm .  Do I smell sausage?