Revolution's are social events. In 1776 the printed page was the Facebook of the day...

As we all learn to watch and comment on the various new social platforms, ugh and now another one claiming a Plus in our lives becomes available (google+), it is important to realize that revolution is a byproduct of our ability to be social.  In this day of our US Independence probably the single most important technological advancement was the ability to put down ideas and disseminate them quickly and cheaply.  Oh you could say that the printed word had been around for a long time before our US Revolution - but really it wasn't until cheap printing presses could transmit and respond to large groups that led to the fomenting of ideas and organizations that led us to our state of freedom. Sure, people had to be able to read, Sure, there had to be a cheap source of paper and ink ready in each city, a local printer and even the ability to move that information around with a mail service... all aspects of tipping-point event. But it was the ability to create and disseminate the printed word that brought us the waive of revolutions starting here in the US and then were ignited in France and other countries for the next 20 or 30 years.

The "Arab Spring" as it is called in the Arab world is now seeing similar transformations, as the fruits of the dissemination technology again are brought to a new tipping point.  The birth of new and widely adopted Internet technologies and devices to engage and define them as a group with wants and desires.  So they too are now able to congregate, foment ideas and act as a large group from which each could only stand as an individual before.

We must honor our forefathers for standing up to their masters and demanding their freedoms... it was the ability to created printed ideas and transmit them that gave them the strength in numbers to complete those dreams.  And today we are seeing this happen as never before.  Micro revolutions against governments and industries around the world.  Connections of talented people from all parts of the globe coming together in forums and platforms to create and develop new business models, to re-frame the argument and which will free them from their cubicles as well as their dictator.  We are at a tipping point once again and a new revolution that will take hold giving way to the large central production centers of the past and allowing those that embrace these new tools to live anywhere and conduct their affairs in the cloud - One step, Two step Three step, Four.... printed pages, web pages tweeted pages... can the singularity be far off?  Not with computers but with the natural world.  I often sit with my Bluetooth headset, looking out over my back yard (see below) having conversations and making deals with people sitting in their cement towers a few hours away in Seattle... if they only knew...becoming one with the thought of freedom.

For those of you that have figured this out... enjoy your freedom. Here is my office view....Happy 4th of July