Comments on: Serendipity… WTF?

By: Stop met zoeken! - Frankwatching

Stop met zoeken! - Frankwatching — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 11:02:04 +0000

[...] Artikel van Neil Perkin over “Data and Discovery” 3. Artikel van Tim Malbon over “Serendipity…WTF?” 4. Artikel in de New York Times: “The Endangered Joy of Serendipity“ 0 stemmen [...]

By: ViNT // Vision - Inspiration - Navigation - Trends » Serendipiteit

ViNT // Vision - Inspiration - Navigation - Trends » Serendipiteit — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 14:24:03 +0000

[...] Artikel van Neil Perkin over “Data and Discovery” 3. Artikel van Tim Malbon over “Serendipity…WTF?” 4. Artikel in de New York Times: “The Endangered Joy of [...]

By: Links worth sharing 10.09.09 « Jason Kristufek’s We Media blog

Links worth sharing 10.09.09 « Jason Kristufek’s We Media blog — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 15:36:18 +0000

[...] Serendipity… WTF? – The declinists point to a mythical golden pre-Web era of serendipity. They say that the way people read newspapers in the old days supported serendipitous discovery far better than a website can. They claim that the experience of discovering music through radio and club DJs was more serendipitous than the experience provided by online music sites. They seriously believe that bookshops and libraries made it easier to discover knowledge by accident than the Web can. – Tim from Made by Many Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Welcome to my Ext BlogHurry! Youâ€™re Running Out of Time [...]

By: Mark McGuinness

Mark McGuinness — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 10:08:31 +0000

Excellent stuff.

“A super-abundance of weird new shit to discover” – yes, it’s a double-edged sword, but who wants to go back to the days of 4 TV channels, news from newspapers, and about 1 shelf’s worth of interesting books in your local bookshop? Not me.

By: David Cushman

David Cushman — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 13:16:15 +0000

I wonder if you’re struggling with the same issue I’ve been wrestling with. A tension.
The tension is that for the evolution of ideas you need diversity but for our engagement we need relevance.
I blogged in a little depth here http://fasterfuture.blogspot.com/2009/09/bored-of-twitter.html
The tools that help us manage this tension look like having the brightest future.

By: Post Of The Month Nominations – August ‘09 | Everyone Read It!

Post Of The Month Nominations – August ‘09 | Everyone Read It! — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 04:40:26 +0000

[...] from Paul McEnanyWhy I Do What I Do by Jon Howard 20th Century Media. The Encore… Graeme WoodSerendipity…WTF? from Tim MalbonPlease add your nominations [...]

By: tim harrap

tim harrap — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 17:25:36 +0000

Arrive here through the serendipity of finding a link to this post on Neil Perkin’s Post of the Month recommendation @
http://neilperkin.typepad.com/only_dead_fish/2009/09/post-of-the-month-nominations-august-09.html

Marco and many others including myself have worked through the experience of the web since its arrival say circa 1994-5. I firmly believe in the biography of not only humans but also organisations. The web is an organisation par excellence and it has gone through the first seven years of physical growth, the last seven years or so 7-14 are the emotionally awakening years(bursting the bubble anyone) and now we hit the teenage years and the ego arrives!! I am.

The biggest serendipity has to be, not what is on the web and all the fancy algorithms, but the fact that people are becoming conscious of self due to over abundance – they have to take control and indeed become more engaged.

By: eskimon

eskimon — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 06:19:52 +0000

And the irony is that I stumbled on this piece thanks to a small link on another page that I’d found by accident when I was looking for something else. Surely that is serendipity?

There is no way I’d ever know as much as I do today if it weren’t for the internet. The surprises may not be so ‘abrupt’ as they were before the internet, but when you have an RSS feed that showcases the best in graphic design, the latest developments in nano-technology, reports on the discovery of a new star system in a far-flung galaxy, and all the latest marketing best practice… what’s to worry about?

Serendipitous or not, the benefit is the same: a rich and varied repertoire of information, education and entertainment. The internet allows you to bite off way more than you can chew, and for those greedy to make new discoveries, that’s the greatest gift around.

By: Smart People / Smart Ideas Round-up August 2009 | eyecube

Smart People / Smart Ideas Round-up August 2009 | eyecube — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 12:31:07 +0000

[...] Smart People / Smart Ideas #185 @malbonster on online serendipity: http://www.madebymany.co.uk/serendipitywtf-001525 [...]

By: marco

marco — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 10:46:37 +0000

I just bumped into this post and read it thoroughly, because I believe that serendipity is part of my life and the Internet is a good place for it.
While, on one hand, I guess I understand who says that “natural” serendipity is declining, on the other, I strongly believe it’s only part of the “natural” suspicious way of thinking of those who feel threatened by the Web and it’s (again) natural caos of things.
When I started to use the Internet, back in the 90’s, my first goal was to learn all those things books would not tell me. Especially the books I could phisically reach. The answers to the many questions I always have can be so far away when you have to rely on texts that might as well not exist where you live. That was the first phase of my experience as an Internet user. Then, serendipity took over. Discovering new interests, new stuff that my memory can’t possibly deal with it is part of my everyday experience. And that is something I try to transmit my customers (small marketing agency). I believe that, anyway you put it, serendipity will always be something natural (artificial serendipity simply does not exist), no matter what technology is in place. And that is in part why we talk about Web 2.0 and even Web 3.0. Discovery is out there, but no one will be able to organize it 100% for you.