The Emperor's new clothes?

The excellent Brendan Cooper has posted a compelling piece de-bunking at least three of the Holy Grails of social media: The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell, The Long Tail by Chris Anderson and Blink also by Malcolm Gladwell.
For the full post go to Blink: It's the Tipping Point for the Long Tail.
Brendan has discovered some compelling "scientific" data and commentary which rather debunks some of the concepts which first propelled most of us to jump of this bandwagon in the first place.
Before you decide to have a go at Brendan he does point out that he is simply the messenger and having discovered some rather vigorous research on the matter which undermines the thoughts and anecdotal narrative of Messrs Gladwell and Anderson.
For my own part I am always rather suspicious of these sort of self-help, philosophical, business books. I read them of course and become convinced that they are right. But a couple of days afterwards I am always puzzled and struggle to remember what the hell the are talking about and whether it does stand up to reality.
I've attended many conferences over the years where the key note speaker has been a so-called "business guru". You sit there with the rest of the delegates, listening open-mouthed as the build their proposition, thinking: "My God! This man is a genius!"
Afterwards, less than ten minutes later, you discuss his speech/presentation/spiel with fellow delegates and realise you can't remember a damn thing he said. Nor have any of you taken anything concrete away from the performance that you could apply to your own business etc.
It's simple entertainment. All style over content.
If I could recommend two books about what real business is about they would be Liar's Poker and Barbarians At The Gate. Enjoy!