Make a wake

My number one take-away from conversing with Toby Long:

Don't spend any more time coming up with ideas.

My number two: Darnit, why couldn't I have talked with Toby way back when I'd first started this project? Sometimes it feels almost too late to do this. There are plenty of places and opportunities for people to get exposed to the components that make up a healthy lifestyle. The other hand in that conversation is that finally there is enough knowledge and are enough nascent industries in the healthy, harmony lifestyle that if I gather them together it'll be a really powerful experience.

That part comes down to marketing. Apple's iPod is just a mini-hardrive and earplugs. These technologies existed for years. What Apple did was to eliminate 95% of the functionality of similar devices, to make an appliance that had a very simple and easy to understand function, and then to design the coolest interface for that function.

Since my demonstration project is less about the technologies behind a sustainable lifestyle, and more about the social change required to adopt them and integrate them into daily life, there is still a tremendous untapped market to sell into.

Ah, I just figured out my new #1 take-away: even smart guys like Toby Long get caught up in the technology of green building. My real job, the propulsive dynamic that will generate a wake strong enough for others to surf, is to craft this project as a lifestyle demonstration so compelling that people want parts of it for themselves.

Cool-- I can do that. In fact, I am already doing that.