Wednesday August 31, 2005

Who would you borrow for an hour?

Have you heard about the library that's lending people out?

http://www.religionnewsblog.com/12069

A public library in Holland has been swamped with queries after unveiling plans to "lend out" living people, including homosexuals, drug addicts, asylum seekers, gipsies and the physically handicapped.

The volunteers will be borrowed by users of the library, in Almelo, who can take them to a cafeteria, and ask them any questions they like for up to an hour, in a scheme designed to break down barriers and combat prejudice.

Humor me here for a second, while I take it to the next level: let's think about networking these "resources" either from one central place (such as the local library) or entirely online, base-free -- and you would essentially have on-demand (video?) access to people and experts of all sorts.

Imagine Google Answers meets Wikipedia, but with live, interacting humans as your interface. This kind of thing would radically change the way libraries work...heck, the whole innernets, too. There are certainly some issues to be worked out, but it's worth exploring in my always humble opinion.

Hmm...while I'm stewing on that, let me ask...who would you want to "borrow" for an hour?

( Aug 31 2005, 04:46:51 PM PDT ) Permalink Comments [2]

Sneak Preview: Douglas Rushkoff's Latest

Experience Manifesto gives us a nice teaser of the upcoming Douglas Rushkoff book:

American enterprise, in particular, is at a crossroads. Having for too long replaced innovation with acquisitions, tactics, efficiencies, and ad campaigns, many businesses have dangerously lost touch with the process – and fun - of discovery.

”American companies are obsessed with window dressing,” Rushkoff writes, “because they're reluctant, no, afraid to look at whatever it is they really do and evaluate it from the inside out. When things are down, CEO's look to consultants and marketers to rethink, re-brand or repackage whatever it is they are selling, when they should be getting back on the factory floor, into the stores, or out to the research labs where their product is actually made, sold, or conceived.”

( Aug 31 2005, 11:16:48 AM PDT ) Permalink Comments [0]