PureBlogging

All the cool stuff happens at the edges of things. In nature, the transition between two ecosystems is called an ecotone. The two ecosystems overlap each other and the give and take between them is greater. Between a positive and a negative charge, a transfer of electricity takes place. In an extreme form, we call it lightning. When the first world and the third world commingle, opportunity abounds for everyone. At the forefront of any field, be it technology, music, art, whatever, there is the edge.

But not just the edge. There is the edge of the edge: the “cutting edge” or the “bleeding edge” we call it. That’s where the juice is. That’s where you want to think about being. If you’re in the middle, you’re in a very crowded space and it’s hard to stand out. The people in the middle look to the people at the edges for ideas and for inspiration. The cool stuff happens at the edge and makes its way towards the mainstream (where, of course, after a while, it isn’t cool anymore, but there’s always new cool stuff coming down the path).

Being on the edge makes you a transfer agent for the edge heading into the mainstream, and you can siphon that energy. You can build a smaller audience at the edge that grows and becomes mainstream after a while. You can make money off of the difference between economic and technological “ecosystems” by occupying the ecotone area where there is overlap. You can blog from there, from the edge.

photo by Binary Ape