I often start reading books on planes and don’t quite finish leading to lots of books that I am in the process of reading.  Malcolm Gladwell’s "The Tipping Point" is one such book and think I even picked it up in an airport bookstore at some point.  I had heard some positive things and it was both small and paperback making it appealing to carry around.

I finally finished it on my last plane ride and several things jumped out at me including his discussion in the Afterword about "The Rise of Immunity" and how the newness or novelty of something can wear off as it becomes more mainstream.  He discusses the phone and how the rise of telemarketing led to caller ID and answering machines and how that is a sign of immunity.  Email, Gladwell contends, is following a similar path in that receiving email use to be novel but has evolved to be a hassle both in terms of who sends them to us and the sheer volume received.

"The fact that anyone can email us for free, if they have our address, means that people frequently and persistently e-mail us.  But that quickly creates immunity, and simply makes us value face-to-face communications – and the communications of those we know and trust – all the more"

Other interesting tidbits include how groups of 150 or less are more conducive to true social relationships and that individuals can’t maintain over 10 to 15 close relationships due to the investment of time and emotional energy needed to maintain them.

It’s a good read about how trends emerge and how things can quickly become mainstream due, in part, to small events.