This came in my spam this morning, and I gave it nine seconds of my full attention: Babbling jargon-filled nonsense, probably with a well-hidden chokepoint to spill coins into the author’s pockets.
That was my instant take, but the truth is I don’t actually know what it says. To the extent that I actually tried to read it, it was too painful for me to pursue.
It could be you have more patience than me. If so, you might take a stab at figuring out what it says. It doesn’t actually matter, since the meatballs atop this sticky bowl of word spaghetti are the same ones who brought us Realtor.com and all the other big-hit NAR disasters. If anyone actually believes these wheezing antiques can outrun the VC-funded Web 2.0 world, I have a few dollars I might be willing to wager. The NAR will solve every problem it confronts by force of arms, as always.
But: That doesn’t mean you can’t have some Friday Afternoon Fun trying to parse the mangled prose that makes up this proposal. Plus which, I’m inclined to be very generous if you should unearth the chokepoint.
Note that this deeply heartfelt manifesto appears on a page full of advertising. Classy… Inman “News” dipped its pen in this spittoon, of course, but that’s such an obvious outcome it’s not even worth making jokes about… Oh, fine. Here’s one, just because it’s Friday:
Q: What do you need to get fawning, uncritical attention for your press release from Inman News?
A: A press release.
Read carefully and I expect you will discover how the NAR hopes to rape agents and consumers over the next decade. But remember this as you read: Divorce the commissions and every bit of this nonsense goes away, as it should.
Technorati Tags: disintermediation, real estate, real estate marketing, technology
Bob says:
would love to help, but as soon as I read the by line, I hit backspace.
As mom always told me, “Consider the source”.
August 8, 2008 — 3:33 pm
Jessica Horton says:
Veni, Vidi, Vamoose…
Not even going to try and touch that.
August 8, 2008 — 4:20 pm
Jonathan Washburn says:
Greg, A agree the marketing splash page wasn’t very well thought out, but the manifesto was spot on. At least as far as I’ve read (page 12). Planning on finishing the rest a little later.
August 8, 2008 — 4:38 pm
Greg Swann says:
> the manifesto was spot on. At least as far as I’ve read (page 12).
What the hell does it say, Jonathan?
It’s not a manifesto, it’s more like Puddinhead Wilson, an encomium to missed opportunities. MLS 5.0 is like Zillow six months ago, so long as Web 3.0 doesn’t come along and give Mr. Klein a host of new ideas to misunderstand.
If I’m being unfair, tell me how? I say there’s nothing there to ever bother thinking about.
August 8, 2008 — 4:58 pm
Greg Swann says:
No, I take it back. Forgive me for making fun of this document. Klein’s proposals are outright evil. He is attempting to create a sinecure for himself and his dip-shit blow-tech companies, but the way he proposes to do this will put a nationwide stranglehold on listings. This is far worse than a chokepoint. Klein’s ideal is a hideous betrayal of everything we associate with internet commerce.
Zillow.com, Trulia.com and other aggregators should be immediately concerned, since it is Klein’s intention to put all of your necks through one noose, thus to put the squeeze on you all, all at once. His “vision,” such as it is, is stolen chapter and verse from Zillow.com. My thinking is that no MLS vendors are safe, either, since it seems eminently plausible to me that Klein intends to supplant all independent entities with his own companies.
The payoff to the NAR is the continued conspiracy of agency violations occasioned by the “secret” MLS fields — every slimy tentacle of which grow from the co-broke. Klein is not in the smallest way deceived about the evil of the co-broke:
That is to say, he is completely aware that the MLS system as presently constituted is entirely an artifact of the co-broke. Divorce the commissions and all the secrets — and all the betrayals occasioned by the secrets — are washed away.
So why doesn’t Klein propose this instead? I believe his objective is to monopolize his so-called “MLS 5.0” for his own companies, but even his ostensible justification is vile: To betray consumers for the benefit of Realtors:
In other words, our objective should be to deliberately frustrate free commerce, to interpose ourselves as chokepoints in the transaction, demanding to be paid for information that otherwise would be freely available. This is Klein’s own estimate of the value of Realtors: Your value consists of holding your clients hostage with secrets and lies.
And that much is the NAR’s position, as well. Klein’s manifesto is evil. The NAR is evil. But all of these things derive their evil potency from the co-broke. We won’t kill the NAR by divorcing the commissions, but we will have pulled that vampire’s fangs.
August 8, 2008 — 5:48 pm
Bob says:
Greg, what did you expect from SK? This is the guy that helped foist the 2nd generation of EPro on agents so he could sell them email, while demonstrating his own commitment to forward thinking tech by running a 90s era bulletin board.
August 8, 2008 — 9:32 pm
Greg Swann says:
> Greg, what did you expect from SK?
That was really an eye-opener. Much more sinister than the Realtor.com sell-out. Makes me wonder if the fix is already in and this is just protective coloration. I think I’m going to build Googlebots to keep an eye on this.
August 8, 2008 — 10:09 pm
Bob says:
Watch California. They are in the process of building a statewide MLS. SK sits on the committee.
August 9, 2008 — 8:09 am
Greg Swann says:
> Watch California.
I hadn’t made the connection, but I’m sure you’re right.
August 9, 2008 — 8:16 am
James Wheelock says:
@Greg – I am with you on the NAR they have done a horrible job representing us during the housing correction and they are bleeding agents pockets like there is no tomorrow. Wait, ah, maybe there is no tomorrow for the organization. If this is true or beleived to be true by some of the upper mucks then that explains alot.
August 10, 2008 — 11:32 pm