Coming at you from AOL now. . .my wife forced me to get a computer at home
so she too could enjoy the benefits of internet connectivity (my wife is
demanding that I restructure this sentence; I refuse to). . .
Sorry I'm a little behind. . .I've been on the road, and was unable to
access my E-Mail.
I like the thread that Mike & At have going on. I'll throw in a couple of
thoughts on the subject.
Mike raises what I think is a really important issue. I have been amazed
(and appreciative) at how freely those who participate on this list share
their knowledge. At different times, I've wondered how many of you felt
about sharing your knowledge, sense you're consultants who make money
through your knowledge. I think Mike provides a valuable perspective.
A while back I suggested to Rick that it might be possible to have
Internet-voice conferencing, about topics related to LOs. We were going to
do an experiment to see if that worked well, but my work schedule was so
tight I never got around to it. I think, without question, that such a
thing is possible -- given the technology included in Netscape Navigator
3.0 and Microsoft Explorer 3.0. I think that this could include a way to
charge for participating on an Internet-voice conference.
Let's say (hypothetically) that Mike, Arthur, and At would like to host a
conference on complexity theory. They could send out a message saying, in
effect, that on such-and-such date they're going to be giving a voice
presentation. People could then subscribe to the conference, through
E-Mail, and pay by credit card. In return, they'd be given a password to
the conference, and everything would be set and ready to go.
Copies of each seminar/presentation could be stored in real-time audio
format on a server somewhere (I have all kinds of friends who would be
more than willing to give me the disk space for free if something comes of
this). People could then browse the web, and "purchase" whatever seminar
or presentation that might interest them.
I like this idea enough to do some groundwork and see what we can get
going.
Of course, I'd have to look into setting up credit card billing on the
Internet, storing incoming audio information in real-time audio format,
and finding someone who would be willing to "put up the bucks" and pay for
the disk space. Once all that is done, the rubber can hit the road. . .
And participants can start charging for presentations and seminars over
the net.
Anyone willing to extend my thinking, and explore even better options?
--Benjamin B. Compton [This line inserted by your host...] bbcompton@aol.com
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>