A Tipping Point Tipping Point

Malcolm Gladwell’s bestselling The Tipping Point was first published in January 2002, but I didn’t get around to reading it until a few weeks ago. And suddenly the term “tipping point” seems to be on everyone’s lips. I heard it used seemingly dozens of times at Le Web 3 conference in Paris in early December to describe the goal that AllPeers and other up-and-coming technology startups are striving for. Then when ever-insightful Firefox poster boy Blake Ross took it to Google for its evil search tips, Mike Arrington of TechCrunch couldn’t resist the (actually pretty clever) pun and blogged at length about Google’s Tipping Point.

Having just finished the book, I remember clearly what Gladwell’s coinage is intended to mean: the moment at which some sort of critical mass is attained and a low-intensity trend suddenly achieves massive growth, recognition and/or adoption. Mike’s usage is thus quite correct. Last year I visited a large Silicon Valley company that shall remain nameless and heard someone note that the tide had finally turned on Google’s golden boy status. At the time this was just wishful thinking, but it’s hard not to notice that something has recently tipped and that people are increasingly inclined to criticize, rather than blindly idolize, Google.

What I noticed today is that even the “tipping point” term now seems to be tipping, at least if a totally over-the-top article by Danny Sullivan is any indication. Danny uses the phrase to mean some sort of generic milestone, ignoring the subtly brilliant implications that gave the meme legs in the first place. How long until this banalization takes over? Maybe I’m overreacting, but it seems inevitable to me that we’ll soon be commenting on our recent fashion tipping point (stopped wearing white socks with sandals), last week’s culinary tipping point (had tuna instead of ham and cheese for lunch on Wednesday) and a major tipping point at work (Sally finally returned my stapler).

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1 Comment »

1. i cannot register allpeers…it comes a mistake:couldnt register…check your network or try later….i need help…thx

   Comment by danzel — 1/7/2007 @ 9:18 pm

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