The echo chamber (part 1)

Have you ever been to a trade show? I've been to a bunch... mostly consumer electronics and books, but lately, a whole host of others. At every trade show, there's a buzz about a few products or services. Industry scandals or breakthroughs or some new product that gets everyone excited.

What's extraordinary is the huge disconnect about what people in the industry care about and what the public cares about.

Lots of insiders cared about the Tivo. They were astonished by some book or other. Amazed by a new pricing scheme launched by an industry leading consulting firm.

And no one in the marketplace cared.

It's easy to get confused about what reverbates inside and what leaks out and spreads to the rest of the world. It's easy to start cycling faster and faster on the inside the chamber It's easy to spend a huge amount of time and money worrying about what the industry thinks or what features to add or what to charge. And then, after you've spent all that time, nobody notices.

Just a reminder that the second order effects (what leaks) is a lot more important than what you hear around the water cooler.