SmartMobs has a post contrasting Dean style smartmobs with Bush style MLM grassroots marketing organizational styles. Frankly, I don't buy it. It's not an issue of the future (smartmobs) versus the past (MLM) but rather two competing systems that will grow and borrow from each other as time goes by. I view it more analogous to the RISC v. CISC wars in computer chips. The CISC side, which is championed by x86, looks like it's winning but the guts of the beast have all been redone to be very much like a RISC chip. So who won? Who cares? Well, in my more geeky moments I do but I'm never deluded enough to think this is more than a very small minority opinion.
The problem of smart mobs will be the weak control from the center. The problem of organizationally hierarchical MLM systems will be the lack of ability to take advantage of the full creative abilities of the network nodes. Both sides will seek to shore up their weaknesses but I give the Republicans the edge. It's a lot easier to loosen control and speed innovation than to reign in a bunch of free spirits to stay on message.
Posted by TMLutas at May 8, 2004 05:42 PM