CLIPs: white paper evolution

White papers aren’t completely dead. But there is an Internet-era alternative that will replace lower-tier white papers: CLIPs.

Most white papers are still in the old media dark ages:

• Dead once published
• No community collaboration mechanisms
• Mostly isolated and devoid of links
• Usually single author
• Narrow range of opinions or perspective
• Limited or conditional distribution

Those old media attributes result in the value of most white papers declining over time, as shown in the graphic above. The best white papers are an exception, but are also rare. Conversely, CLIPs continually improve over time. CLIPs:

• Curated compilations by topic-defined communities
• Living, breathing, evolving
• Internet-enabled: full of links, distributed, available to anyone
• Peer-produced and crowd-sourced

CLIPs will largely replace white papers, but the Internet-era is not a zero sum game. The Internet-era is about multiple solutions, specifically tailored to different use cases. Four quadrants evolve, with white papers, CLIPs, blog and wikis each playing predominantly in one quadrant, and each being the “best” answer for certain purposes and use cases:


Some blogs, mainly ones with active communities and curators are close to CLIPs, although the content in the main blog posts is usually separated from the content in the discussion, resulting in the blog post content being less collaborative and coherent than in CLIPs. Some wikis are also close to CLIPs, with individual CLIPs being more curated and focused than the wikis. Meanwhile the best white papers will be the best choice for highly focused, highly curated expert content. I suspect the rest of the white papers will diminish over time.

Go here to learn how to help build a CLIP.

First CLIPs on NextBlitz:

IP communications – initial topics will include: data, voice and video; integration of communications with other apps; Unified Communications myths; technology evolution. Will link mainly to my own blog posts to get it started but hope to be the minority before long.

Startups – initial topics will include: innovation; new products or features from existing startups; new startups; new startup ideas; startup dynamics. Will draw on some of my startup experience but evolution will mainly dictated by your inputs.

Applications – initial topics will include: programming, algorithms, UX, design, new apps, new features, technology evolution. Similar to startups in that this CLIP will get minimum seed content from me and depend on the community for evolution.

Technology in healthcare and education – this will mainly be a curated set of links for now. Will start it with virtually no structure or content and see how the crowd evolves it.