I picked up The Tippng Point and Blink about a month ago to have something to read at the airport, and finished The Tipping Point within a couple of flights.... very good, very fast read. I really liked how in-depth he got on some of the issues... who knew you could learn so much from the differences between Sesame Street and Blue's Clues. I liked the part on smoking, too; kids don't smoke
to be cool, they smoke because
they're already cool.
Haven't had much time for Blink, but I'm about halfway through it. I'm a HUGE information gatherer. I will do everything I can to gather facts, learn about a process, and explain what I've done and what I'm thinking about doing next; all before even asking someone else. Hell, when I couldn't find the book at Barnes and Noble, I was ready to tell the guy "Blink by Malcolm Gladwell, who wrote the Tipping Point... I couldn't find it in Psychology and it wasn't with the Tipping Point in Business........"; and about two words into my information dump the guy was like "StFU, follow me."
So, some of the things he talks about have been pretty enlightening.
Also, I'm not huge on marketing and advertising... I think it's interesting in terms of technology (getting the right information to the right people), but it's a classic prisoner's dillemma (everyone would be better off if no one advertised, but once one company does, they all have to). I've had a couple of marketing classes, but I was pretty surprised when I read about not just the importance of packaging, but how it actually changes the outcome of taste tests.