[theforum] history draft

ekm at seastorm.com ekm at seastorm.com
Tue Oct 28 15:23:15 CDT 2008


Luther, Ron
> Erika offered up a nice 'history of evolt' for editing and sniping.

thanks, Ron.  There are a ton of "historic" articles/documents online, so
yes, we'll throw in some screenshots, and a little cooking sherry too...

I also caught a couple on 10volt.org... someone posted as a comment, one
(or the one) of Taylor's MonkeyJunkies (I don't think he camel-capped it
in his email, but I agree I think it was, and should be.. you know I think
that list only existed about 2, no more than 3 years) post about the
archive/copyright.  Ok and yes we can add that back in... this part of the
story pretty well documented so we can also link to past articles that
focus on it.

I also want to list a who's who, current and alumni, as best as I can pin
it down, so I appreciate your adding some of that.

Re Dave Winer:
http://static.userland.com/userLandDiscussArchive/msg009763.html
There appear to be missing posts, and Winer says he deleted some.  The
only posts I recall seeing are from the affable Bob Davis...  so someone
else managed to post and get deleted.  I do recall Cody having some kind
of issue w/ Winer (*editorial comment deleted*)

Zeldman has given us good support and links over the years.  And
ultimately, when they closed MonkeyJunkies, was it Taylor?  who sent list
members to evolt?  Evolt really does embody the BEST of the Internet,
despite our bumps and bruises.  Who doesn't love a scrappy anarchist?

The borg stuff is on my agenda to really think out.  I actually just got
ahold of a book today called "The Starfish and The Spider: The Unstoppable
Power of Leaderless Organizations"  I'm trying to pin down what it is that
makes this such a powerful model, and one I think *we* have yet to fully
grasp the power of.

Here is the end of the introduction of that aforementioned book:

"Decentralization has been lying dormant for thousands of years.  But the
advent of the Internet has unleashed this force, knocking down traditional
businesses, altering entire industries, affecting how we relate to each
other, and influencing world politics.  The absence of structure,
leadership, and formal organization, once considered a weakness, has
become a major asset.  Seemingly chaotic groups have challenged and
defeated established institutions.  The rules of the game have changed."

Evolt was, and still is, at the crest of that wave.

Erika







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