Assignment 27: Reading Reflection No. 3

Cognitive Surplus by Clay Shirky

1)    What was the general theme or argument of the book?

The book basically brings about the argument that if individuals engage with collaborative activities during their free time, rather than consumptive ones, then a lot of value could be created.

2)   How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?

I remember in class that we were told to try to think from a customer’s perspective; meaning that we should try to think about what a consumer’s needs and wants are. At one point in the book Shirley talks about how sometimes instead of thinking this way, people think of the explicit characteristics of a product/service which blinds them from understanding what the customer actually wants the product/service for.

3)    If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?

I think it would be neat to design an exercise in which each student would have to identify 5 products/services and right down their explicit use vs their possible implicit uses. For example, Netflix. Its explicit use is providing a service for people to watch a wide range of movies and tv shows. It’s implicit use however, would be to serve people as something to do during their free time, as a companion to not feel lonely, as a distraction from the “real world”…

4)    What was your biggest surprise or 'aha' moment when reading the book? In other words, what did you learn that differed most from your expectations?

Usually I get an idea of what a book is going to be about from its title, but I was honestly pretty clueless when it came to this one. That being the case, my aha moment was when I understood what Shirky was trying to say. It was when I realized that his point was to highlight the importance and impact of people working and thinking together via the media.