Saturday, February 21, 2009

Whole Earth Catalog archived online!

http://www.wholeearth.com/index.php

If you want a butt-ton of DIY (Do It Yourself) stuff, here's your treasure-trove.

The non-future of some of our treasured media types

http://www.internetevolution.com/document.asp?doc_id=171555&

Cory Doctorow covers the future of movies, newspapers, and other media. This shows that many aspects of our society are changing drastically, not just the economy. I'm beginning to believe that this is such a unique structural change going on throughout our society and culture that the experts will not have a handle on what's going on either. This may just be a huge shakeout that we'll have to ride instead of control.

Friday, February 20, 2009

non-hierarchical organizations cause confusion in court

http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2009/02/neij.html

Pirate Bay is being sued over copyright issues. In court the prosecutor couldn't wrap his head around how Pirate Bay is organized. I wrote about the non-hierarchical group Anonymous:
http://www.lisamcpherson.org/pc.htm

I believe this style of organization will grow more and more as it is more flexible and cheaper than top-down hierarchical structures.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

The News Business is a Harbinger of the Future

http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/2009/02/default-o-matic-update-closer-to-brink.html

Who would have ever thought that the New York Times would be in financial trouble? This demonstrates that the economy is changing rapidly in ways that aren't being addressed. It's not just that derivatives are hard to understand, it's that the way the entire economy is changing that is hard to understand. I really think the things our economic experts learned just don't apply now, but then, that means nobody knows just what's going on.

If it was me, because of this uncertainty, I'd go back to basics as much as possible; buy sparingly, keep funds handy in case of problems, don't get giddy when things are going well.

Sunday, February 1, 2009

neo-liberalism has failed, let's pick up the pieces

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2009/01/30/1232818725574.html

KEVIN RUDD has denounced the unfettered capitalism of the past three decades and called for a new era of "social capitalism" in which government intervention and regulation feature heavily.

In an essay to be published next week, the Prime Minister is scathing of the neo-liberals who began refashioning the market system in the 1970s, and ultimately brought about the global financial crisis.

"The time has come, off the back of the current crisis, to proclaim that the great neo-liberal experiment of the past 30 years has failed, that the emperor has no clothes," he writes of those who placed their faith in the corrective powers of the market....

Saturday, January 31, 2009

We don't need repair of the economy, we need a complete re-evaluation

There is an aspect of our economy that is revolutionary and inescapable, yet it is not being addressed. Professional jobs are being lost to software and Internet tools that are so easy to use there is no longer a need to hire an expert. Internet connectivity makes communication so easy that there is no longer the need for some media specialists. Amateurs now have easy access to tools that used to require special training to use. So why hire someone when you or your kid can do it now easily and cheaply?

Take photography for example. Learning how to use the camera, how to develop the film, how to frame and set up a shot, made photography a specialty. Now, you buy a nice camera, point and shoot, maybe tweak it a little in Photoshop, and voila. Clay Shirky in his book Here Comes Everybody mentions an example where a company sought photos from a professional and was quoted $100 per photo. Competitive photos were found on istockphoto.com for $1 per photo.
The speed and easy access of the Internet makes for competition for information providers like newspapers and TV stations. Bloggers have developed into serious contenders for readership in the journalism field. Huffingtonpost.com and talkingpointsmemo.com are two examples of news web sites that are getting serious traffic.

Videographers and editors are getting serious competition from kids in their bedrooms with their own video cameras and computers. The group Anonymous, for example, has made some stunning videos about their war with Scientology, one of which has received almost three and a half million views. As Shirky says, “If everyone can do something, it is no longer rare enough to pay for, even if it is vital.” (Shirky, p. 79)

While many professions now struggle with equally-equipped amateurs for customers, so also the normal methods of product purchase is set to be turned on its head. Kevin Kelly, editor of Wired Magazine, says that “Very likely, in the near future, I won't 'own' any music, or books, or movies. Instead I will have immediate access to all music, all books, all movies using an always-on service, via a subscription fee or tax. I won't buy – as in make a decision to own -- any individual music or books because I can simply request to see or hear them on demand from the stream of ALL. I may pay for them in bulk but I won't own them. The request to enjoy a work is thus separated from the more complicated choice of whether I want to 'own' it. I can consume a movie, music or book without having to decide or follow up on ownership.” (http://www.kk.org/thetechnium/archives/2009/01/better_than_own.php) Salesman jobs are going to change or be eliminated.

So while it is essential to work on shoring up our economy after the recent collapse, it is also important to see that a large portion of our system of how we earn a living is changing before our eyes. It's not just time for repair, it's time for a complete re-evaluation.