The revolution in micro media feels to me a lot like the original rush to the Internet back in the late 1980s and early 1990s. So it's enlightening, I think, to talk with those who were at the vanguard at that time, when CompuServe was our main means of online collaboration and no one had heard of Mosaic.

Consider this wiki-based Q&A with Dave Lakhani, president of Bold Approach in Boise, Idaho, who was a sysop for CompuServe's PR & Marketing Forum, also known as "PRSIG."

"The most important thing that can be learned from the CompuServe experience and applied today in my opinion is that there is tremendous power in web based groups," Dave writes.

"Allowing people a place to hang their hat where they are surrounded by like-minded friends and the occasional rabble rouser creates a whole new sense of connectedness and synergy . . . one that often results in publicity, education and yes profit."