September 24, 2004
Signal, Noise, and Patterns
So there is a ton of noise in my life. There is a ton of noise in your life. In London almost all the cabs are driving billboards. In State College (where I live) there is actually a truck that has a billboard as the truck bed...a driving billboard if you will.
More noise...faster, faster...more, more, more.
Few people actively look at how to lower the noise level...the people who figure out how to do it profitabally make big profits.
Right now I am subscribed to a newsletter announcement list with a rather high signal to noise ratio. To me it is great.
Some people think it has too high of a volume and are unsure how they were subscribed.
Nobody said anything for a long time and then one person complained...and a bunch of others jumped in too.
Not everyone will complain about the noise because there is so much noise in our lives...we are used to it.
As soon as one person complains though it sets the frame...and the floodgates open. People create and follow a pattern.
The search engine which is branded to have the best results has the least noise...and thus is set to make a windfall of profits. This is why SEO works so well...if you do it right it is anti-noise.
Posted at September 24, 2004 7:09 PM