Can one person decide what the entire industry will buy and use? Anita Rowland points at one story (the Zamboni) where that seems to have happened.
That's precisely why evangelists like me pay attention to influentials so much. The problem is, now EVERYONE is an influential. Why? Weblogs. That's why I subscribe to 1227 RSS feeds. In the new world I have to pay attention to everyone.
Here's an example. One of my influentials, Ryan Dawson, is about 20 years old. Most other companies wouldn't pay attention to what he's doing. He's not important enough, right? He hasn't spoken at industry conferences. He hasn't built a business. He hasn't been noticed. Well, yet.
But look at what he's doing with the PDC build of Longhorn. He's quietly off in the corner building apps and writing about them. Will he influence others? I'll bet he will. Should I pay attention to him? Damn straight I should.
Anyone else I should pay attention to? [The Scobleizer]