Random thoughts on random days

I purchased two books yesterday in anticipation of my annual summer trek to the beach. I came across Naked Conversations by Robert Scoble and Shel Israel at Half-Price books which surprised me since it was only released in January. My good fortune! I have been reading Scoble since his days with Userland. The book is about how blogs are changing the way businesses talk with customers (re: the cover jacket). This subject expands on what the Cluetrain Manifesto first broached: markets are conversations with blogs becoming an important way to encourage them.

The other book The Long Tail by Chris Anderson is an expansion on an essay he wrote in Wired magazine in October 2004. It’s a very interesting and much debated topic that is basically: what happens when everything in the world becomes available to everyone? When the combined value of all the millions of items that may sell only a few copies equals or exceeds the value of the few items that sell millions each? It certainly changes the playing field.

Now the tough part: which do I read first?