Not long ago, an old Berkeley acquaintance introduced me to a friend of hers. The friend is something of a technology big thinker, the kind who does indeed have important insights but provokes a certain amount of hostility and snide comment through his habit of reminding people how important his insights are.
Because he is a better than passable writer, because he has accomplished significant things in the technology world, because he has been around for a long time and has a following, because a certain amount of controversy follows him and his pronouncements, and because he has got a smart agent, he is a good candidate for a book deal. All he needs is a book proposal his agent can go out and sell.
For whatever reason, The Thinker has not managed to write his proposal. I imagine that In his heart of hearts, he feels he doesn’t need one, that it’s a fussy demand imposed by an Old Media Establishment he believes his work has already doomed. Nonetheless, the requirement survives. The Berkeley acquaintance I referred to earlier tried to write a proposal for him, but it didn’t fly. We chanced to talk about The Thinker, and she suggested I meet him to see whether we might collaborate on the proposal and ensuing book. One of the incentives: “He’s willing to split the royalties–it could be a lot of money.” It could also be zilch.