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February 01, 2005
Evelyn Rodriguez - Futurist, Blogger-with-a-past
I can't remember how I first came across Evelyn Rodriguez' blog Crossroads Dispatches, but I do remember the first posting I read - it was last June when she wrote On My Papi and More - about her relationship with her father and his relationship with work. And his life and its impact on hers. I read Evelyn regularly now, and was reminded of this posting On Papi when she listed it in her own picks of her top 24 posts of 2004.
Evelyn is quite eloquent and seems to share her personal perspective easily. I got hooked both on her writing and the way she weaves themes together, drawing on books, quotations, poems and other sources that catch my eye. Since June, I have follow her thoughts and links to all sorts of new places I didn't know I wanted to visit, but I am glad I did.
In yesterday's post, Evelyn mentions that she previously had a different blog. Curious, I went to see what her blogging looked like in an earlier incarnation, and I came across these quotes from her March 13, 2003 posting:
I consider myself a futurist. I have a good track record of being about one or two years ahead of the curve or even the "early majority", but I don’t necessarily believe we predict the future as much as we create it. Alan Kay had it right when he said, “The best way to predict the future is to create it."
...The Support Economy posits that future wealth creation lies in individual space. Unmet market needs (and a market is comprised of a bunch of individuals) create market opportunities.
...With “individual space" as the hub I see an individual’s digital identity becoming the nucleus of the orbit of services and support revolving around the individual. In my view, digital identity encompasses much more than an individual’s username and password or even their biometric fingerprint. It encompasses the personas, roles, attributes and information that uniquely describe and reference a particular individual and their needs, desires, interests, expression, and more.
I get the sense that she is right about being a couple years ahead of the curve, and that she is indeed able to predict by creating. I have a lot of background reading of her older postings to do - up until now I have read her in present tense only. We may not have fulfilled the promise of digital identity yet (I can't tell - need to catch up!), but I recognize what she was getting at nearly two years ago is very much aligned with where I want to go - to be able to use technology in ways that help me use my skills and resources in relationship with others.
Posted by Mary at February 1, 2005 04:33 PM