"Our current system of teaching kids to sit in straight rows and obey instructions isn't a coincidence--it was an investment in our economic future. The plan: trade short-term child labor wages for longer-term productivity by giving kids a head start in doing what they're told.

Large-scale education was never about teaching kids or creating scholars. It was invented to churn out adults who worked well within the system."

"The key word, I think, is spiritual. Mythological brands make a spiritual connection with the user, delivering something that we can't find on our own... or, at the very least, giving us a slate we can use to write our own spirituality on. People use a Dell. They are an Apple."

"Synchronizing buyers to improve efficiency and connection is a high-value endeavor, and it's right around the corner. It will permit mesh products, better conferences, higher productivity and less waste, while giving significant new power to consumers and those that organize them."

"Almost everything else we buy is of far higher quality than it was twenty years ago. The worst car you could buy then was a Yugo… clearly we’ve raised the bar at the bottom. Is the same thing true of your news?"

Great points on the growing gap between paid and free.

Beautiful essay about libraries and the future that is ripe for the taking.

Seth Godin talks about how to market the end of the world.

"The salesperson's job: Help people overcome their fear so they can commit to something they'll end up glad they invested in."

"Too often, we blame bad service on the people who actually deliver the service. Sometimes (often) it’s not their fault."

"When there isn’t enough data, when there can’t be enough data, insist on the flip.

By refusing to lie to yourself, by not telling yourself a fable to make the decision easier, you'll understand quite clearly when you're winging it."

Seth Godin argues for a two device solution. It frees you up to actually get work done.

"You might very well be doing a good job. But that doesn't mean you're a linchpin, the one we'll miss. For that, you have to stop thinking about the job and start thinking about your platform, your point of view and your mission."

Only when things are "dead" can the real work begin. Work that matters happens outside of view from the drive-by technorati.

"RSS is quiet and fast and professional and largely hype-free. Perhaps that's why it's not the flavor of the day."

"Proofiness is a tricky thing. Data is not information, and confusing numbers with truth can help you make some bad decisions."

Seth Godin gives some tips on how to organize a retreat/advance.

"The secret to classic industries is that each step in the plan must be simple. So simple that it's easy to explain and scale. But those simple steps can certainly add up to a complex web."

"A long post, sure, but I wanted to help you realize that just because you can code something that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. The issues of permission, of networks, of scarcity and of the desire to pay are inherent in the business part of the business of software. I think we’re at the very beginning of the arc of software as business, and I can’t wait to see what you come up with next."

Corporations don't have consciences. It's up the individual to work toward what is right.

Seth Godin moves on from traditional publishing.

"This is one reason why recovering from failure is such a great opportunity. If you or your organization fail and then you pull out all the stops to recover or make good, the expectation/delivery gap is huge. You don't win because you did a good job, you win because you so dramatically exceeded expectations."

If we were inventing a workplace in today's age the office would seem like an antiquated relic.

Hoping for that one magical break in business is not a good gameplan. Instead, plan for a business that grows slowly through smart decisions and hard work.

"One of the under-reported stories of the internet is this: it constantly reports on what's possible. Somewhere in the world, someone is doing something that you decided couldn't be done."

"The challenge of our time may be to build organizations and platforms that  engage and coordinate the elites, wherever they are. After all, this is where change and productivity come from."

Everyone can be a linchpin and Seth Godin argues those who think otherwise are just wrong.

"Every morning, before you even take off your slippers, there's a pile of incoming work. You might not think of it as work, because it doesn't involve stuffing envelopes or making sales calls, but it's part of your career and your job."

Six things that you can learn, even from a lousy teacher.

"Marketers love the all call, as long as it's cheap to interrupt everyone. And we waste all that attention, every single day. As long the game theory rewards the waster, the one who corrupts the system and hurts everyone else, it'll continue."

Merlin Mann interviews Seth Godin about his new book "Linchpin" and the idea of "The Lizard Brain."

Apple sold more than $150,000,000 worth of iPads on launch day. They did it by building up a culture and a company over decades.