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Open-Source Living

Thursday, March 06, 2008

Douglas Rushkoff, media thinker and author of Get Back in the Box joins us every Thursday in March to discuss how we navigate the media landscape. This week: We look at the promise of new technology to bring people together and how the Internet may have already passed us by.

Doug Rushkoff's Website


Comments

  • [1] Glenn from Manhattan March 06, 2008 - 02:39AM

    It will be interesting to see if young people today using myspace, facebook, and open source software will grow up and be like us adults who really do not want to change how we do things, to share information with people we don't know, nor to improve ourselves beyond what is comfortable amongst people we trust.

    I read the first chapter of his book on Amazon and it's ironic that two companies he contrasted as one doing the right things and the other the wrong - Sirius and XM - are now the same company due to the poor business models (cash flow) of them both forcing them to merge. This is 'sharing' of competencies, but it is also a monopoly and in the end - poorly serving the public.


  • [2] Derek Tutschulte from Brooklyn March 06, 2008 - 10:47AM

    So far, noone has gamed a new innovation: Twitter. Why? These things will continue to pop up and we will be better at protecting ourselves from gaming the system.


  • [3] Anne March 06, 2008 - 10:48AM

    Does he believe the power of the internet is more potent in the developing world, particularly in areas with less political and press freedom, than in the developed world? It is difficult to shut down YouTube or other large internet sites that can be used to disperse photos, videos, and text from around the world including scenes that otherwise not reported.


  • [4] Derek Tutschulte from Brooklyn March 06, 2008 - 10:51AM

    Hardware hackers are the new heroes?


  • [5] Sean Pisano from Brooklyn March 06, 2008 - 10:54AM

    Right on! We are losing on innovation because we have been trapped by big corporation to use their products. - Our choices Microsoft or Apple????


  • [6] Liz from Brooklyn March 06, 2008 - 10:54AM

    You are right on the money. We need more real original thinking.

    Thank you


  • [7] Derek Tutschulte from Brooklyn March 06, 2008 - 10:56AM

    I think Mr. Rushkoff lacks the faith in humanity that brought us the silicon revolution.


  • [8] Snehal from New York, NY March 06, 2008 - 10:56AM

    Douglas brought up the historical point that the twenty-two-letter alphabet didn't create a generation of readers but that it created a generation of listeners that took in what the priests were saying. Point well taken, but the alphabet did lower the standards for becoming a literate priest. Medieval Europe, while feudal, was more democratic than ancient Egypt, where the priestly class were hand picked at birth to learn tens of thousands of hieroglyphs. Compare that to medieval Europe where after a couple of years of seminary school, one could become a literati.

    The Internet, likewise, still promotes a technocratic hierarchy, but each day it's becoming easier to become a technocrat.


  • [9] Al from Manhattan March 06, 2008 - 10:58AM

    Doug's comments about mashup culture not being a truly creative endeavor is as off-base as his comment about the priest class continuing the hold power after advances in writing and printing.

    The consumer is now the producer. We don't just mashup old media, we create new media, and we mash that new stuff up, too. It's the "prosumer" paradigm and it will equalize the balance of power between old media and the ordinary citizen.


  • [10] BORED March 06, 2008 - 11:00AM

    This guy is onto something. The internet is one big commercial. With the info that are corprate lords allows to obtain


  • [11] Richard Walker from San Francisco March 06, 2008 - 11:06AM

    The guest has a point in regards to loss of context and "not learning the codes", but I disagree with most of the rest of his arguments. The commercialization aspect he refers to is simply the "braindead" way to monetize the web. It has little to do with the massive crowdsourcing, open source and ad-supported "free" services movements.

    I'm going to add a "you produce" item recommending web broadcasters / journalists who have a broader view of what the internet is today.

    I recently discovered an independent broadcaster who I "friended" on Facebook and then met at an event in "meatspace". Her name is Daisy Whitney and she covers emerging internet TV and other media. My "virtual" and "real" worlds DO have important crossovers.

    Shameless plug:

    http://reechard.vox.com


  • [12] Lisa from nyc March 06, 2008 - 11:56AM

    This guy's arguments seemed spurious and based on nothing.


  • [13] superf88 March 06, 2008 - 12:33PM

    Please sign this petition and march in parade to free this Moroccan techie arrested for posting false facebook page

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOozV-_Z5Vg

    (off facebook group)


  • [14] ads March 07, 2008 - 10:39PM

    andrew keene

    http://www.wnyc.org/shows/bl/episodes/2007/06/06/segments/80153


  • [15] John Hahn from NJ March 13, 2008 - 11:03AM

    That was interesting.

    Next topic, please.


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