Here is a brief eNews history for aficionados:

My very first eNewsletter was e-published May 10, 2000. It included features on industrial automation - news and analysis of major companies plus future-related analysis. I reviewed major new books and reports and wrote on a variety of technology and management topics.

Stimulated by lack of critical analysis of major automation companies I started the automation weblogs. Because companies don't do editorial releases with bad news, participation quickly escalated and daily "hits" jumped into the thousands.

Circulation grew quickly. Within a couple of years eNews was being read by over 6,000 thousand direct sign-ups plus lots more RSS and web views.

The weblogs value came from news (mostly negative) that was aired months before it really surfaced. Still, it generated a lot of work for me and I got nothing positive in return. In March 2012 I discontinued the weblogs. Readership declined slightly - but a large following remained.

I continued to publish eNews with topics relating to wherever my "nose was pointing". I wrote about subjects that I enjoy - futurist topics, philosophical and sometimes political analysis. The feedback, both positive and negative, was worthwhile.

But more than a decade later, it still takes a lot of effort to pump out eNews every month - selecting items, formatting text, preparing webpages and generating podcasts, all of which I do myself. The monthly deadline (albeit self-generated) is a chore that's outgrown its purpose.

Today, with Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Youtube and Google+ its a whole lot easier to generate eye-ball traffic and individual feedback via the web. So, that's what I plan to do.

I'll continue to write about whatever I think is worthwhile and publish electronically. When I have collections of essays that merit bundling together, I'll publish via Amazon's Kindle. That's how I (and many others) enjoy reading today.

Personal Notes

Next week (10 July 2014) my sweetheart and I are embarking on a tour of Italy (Rome, Florence, Venice, Milan). In Milan, we'll meet old friend Pino Zani and his wife Carla and visit their home town of Bergamo. Then, after a few days at beautiful Lake Como, we'll take a train trip to Paris (we love trains in Europe) and enjoy a river cruise from Burgundy & Provence to the Cote D'Azur. This is truly a "bucket-list" trip - our 16th in 6 years!

I always like to receive email from you. Please send me your personal feedback and stay in e-touch.

Cheers: