Learning with Gillmor
March 27, 2008
One of the great things about the Internet is it provides me with access to some genuinely interesting people. One of those is Steve Gillmor, someone who has been around technology for more years than most people care to remember, has a memory like an elephant, has a wicked sense of humour and is sharper than your average Wusthof cooking knife. It should be no surprise then that Steve is a magnet for some extraordinarily bright folks along with some of the media stars of Silicon Valley.
Steve runs a show called NewsGang Live. It’s a call in podcast show, anyone can join, where the discussion is led by Steve but usually ends up being about what anyone who turns up wants it to be. Sound like chaos? It isn’t although there’s always that risk. Think Newsnight but without knowing who the participants are likely to be. People drift in and out of the call and if you’re on the call then you don’t have to say anything.
I call in maybe once or twice a week because for the cost of the hour-ish long show (2.5-3.0 euros even though I’m calling the US over Skype) it’s worth every minute of my attention.
Last night’s show was particularly interesting with contributions from people I both know and don’t know. The discussion around the iPhone and its serving as a proxy for the future of communications was especially fascinating. One of the speakers explained why the margins on some services are so high - it’s a lot to do with the economics of providing those services. So for me it was a learning experience and one I enjoyed.
I mostly listened largely because I had nothing to say but towards the end I asked Steve about a bet I’ve offered Robert Scoble, who is one of the well known tech bloggers. I also asked Steve something about a technical aspect of using Twitter, not knowing he’d already aired that point because I joined part way through. It makes for an entertaining few minutes right at the end of the show.
For an additional perspective on the show, it’s worth reading Aron Michalski’s experience. Aron was on the same show.
I’m not a fan of long podcasts - they usually bore me to tears and to be honest I don’t have the time to grind through an hour or 90 minutes of podcast. However, Steve’s style combined with the personalities who turn up make the show what it is.
Why should you care?
There are many issues besetting professionals and many points of view. How good might it be to have a call in show where topics of importance are discussed in a free for all setting? Back in the early days of this blog, I tried something similar though much shorter but the time wasn’t right and people could not commit. Has the time come around to give this another try? I wonder.
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