Master Jake

I did something rather enjoyable last Friday evening, sitting around the campfire with Mrs. Plainsman. I read Jake Kemp's Master's thesis: "U.S. Newspapers and the Adoption of Technological Innovations."

I did not hear this, but apparently he appeared on a segment a couple of weeks ago where the topic of his graduation from the Master's program (M.A.) at the University of North Texas came up. And he took a spot of teasing in these pages. Jake has been a friendly presence on this site from time to time and I'm on record as admiring his work on the Ticket Top Ten.

In sending it to me, Jake warned me that it contained a fair amount of acadamese, apparently a requirement in presentations of this type. But I found it extremely interesting and well done. He examined the processes that took place in a number of newspapers throughout the country as they struggled to come to grips with the explosion of the Internet as the public's source of news -- in particular, how to construct, and what resources to devote to, their own web pages. He conducted dozens of interviews which he has digested and synthesized into a thesis. I can't do it justice here, but he uses it as a petri dish to examine how companies deal with "disruptive technologies."

This is not Jake Kemp.
However, he did take the photograph.

I don't know what Jake wants to do with his life, but he's off to an impressive start.   The CTO should keep an eye on that chap.  He's not just banter.