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Simon Phipps's personal commentary

Polarisation and Mistrust

In his posting about The Real RSS Debates Robert Scoble makes a few useful comments to move discussion of syndication formats and protocols away from the destructive "RSS vs ATOM" topic and on to things people actually need to talk about, despite his comments referring to Atom advocates as 'them' to the posting about the fact Microsoft is going to participate in the Atom meeting (an assertion which annoys Dare, by the way, and he does a good job setting the record straight).

In doing so, Scoble draws attention to the same trend Ted Leung pointed to last week, of early polarisation (which ironically Ted's assertion about my view seemed to demonstrate). Maybe it's the political season that's facing the US right now, but early polarisation and a lack of respect for contrary views seems to be everywhere right now. Not, it seems, at TechEd where everyone is apparently a Stepford Wife (and welcome to the world of the paid blog, Sean!), but elsewhere - RSS vs ATOM, AOP vs OOP (etc), Democrat vs Republican, and more.

Paradoxically, this may be a good thing, a sign of life and freedom. Like TechEd, there will be expert tutorials, a warm and enthusiastic crowd of software engineers, and plenty of cool things on display. Unlike TechEd, there will be controversy at JavaOne this year for sure (even if it's just the two panels I am moderating, on AOP and on Swing/SWT) because there's genuine choice. Where there's choice, there are diverse opinions, and where there's community, those opinions get aired. Debate is a sure sign of health.

Things turn nasty when the freedom to express the choice is restrained, which is why I like Sam's views on hosting the ongoing discussions about syndication technologies and wish people would stop saying there's nothing left to invent. Equally unhealthy is a refusal to admit there is another view or to admit the presence of the elephant in the room.

Ultimately this is all another expression of the massively connected society. Cluetrain is all about maintaining an inclusive and authentic conversation in the marketplace rather than attempting to sustain the 'we know best' us-v-them attitude that was the traditional position of vendors in the days before the massively connected era began (and amazingly of some technology advocates even today).  In my view that's the true reason open source works too - because it enfranchises 'us', not because it creates 'free-stuff'. Now society is becoming massively connected, there is only 'us' and increasingly market success will be proportional to the degree a business embraces that truth.

The conversation can often be uncomfortable and the disagreements are here to stay. Learning the skills to cope and make things better seems to be the key (and I'm lecturing myself here too, yes!). Empathy and courtesy are the order of the day; I hope I can muster both in those panels at JavaOne.

posted at 9:25 PM (UK) | |