MOLI VIEW™

A few days ago, I was participating in a meeting at one of the magazines I write for. We were talking about the prospects of the music business, and someone there asked me how all of the technology pundits who write about such things expected bands to make money if people were downloading their music for free. They'll tour, I replied. And if they don't want to tour, another writer asked? I guess they won't make any money, I replied. The next question: And everybody actually accepts this?

I then explained that this has become conventional wisdom – to the point that arguing anything else puts me out of step with modern thought. What amused me as I said this is just how much everyone who parrots this "wisdom" believes it to be an innovative way of looking at the world. It hasn't been – at least since the date had a "19" in front of it.

At some point, a set of beliefs once only common at technology companies has curdled into conventional wisdom – to the point that good old-fashioned logic is now the exception rather than the rule. Exhibit A is the current cover story of Wired, a magazine I used to work for, still read and enjoy quite a bit. The story is about "How Apple Got Everything Right By Doing Everything Wrong," which sounds promising. But it turns out that some of the radical new business strategies the article reveals sound suspiciously like common sense.

For example, unlike other technology companies, Apple is famous for operating as an autocracy, with a fair bit of secrecy. This is considered unusual at a time when most management textbooks preach the value of empowerment and transparency. As an example, consider Google, which has become a poster child for the Valley's conventional wisdom. But almost every company since the dawn of the concept has had strong, top-down leadership and a healthy regard for secrecy. It's not as though Wired votes on what stories will run in upcoming issues, or reveals its table of contents in advance.

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