Wednesday, June 06, 2007
The cult of the amateur
In my opinion bloggers should seriously discuss Andrew Keen's new book, "The cult of the amateur: how today's internet is killing our culture", because, from what I learn from here, it raises fundamental questions that go beyond the provocative statements it also contains.
For now, reading this, on his blog,
Enough of blogs and enough of bloggers! It's bad enough that there are 70 million of them out there, littering the Internet with fast breaking news about what their authors ate for breakfast. But blogs are just one piece in the digital media revolution. They are boring to write (yawn), boring to read (yawn) and boring to discuss (yawn).
What I really want to discuss is the impact of Web 2.0 on truth, education, memory and power. I want debate the increasingly Orwellian role of Google in our information economy. I want to talk about the way in which the Internet has unleashed a plague of pornography, gambling and intellectual dishonesty on our youth. I want to discuss the future of the book. I want to imagine the future of knowledge when, to quote David Weinberger, everything is miscellaneous.
Anyone want to join me in this discussion?
I remembered TS Eliot (I always remember TS Eliot, on a large number of things, but that's another story)
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?
From TS Eliot, The Eagle soars in the summit of Heaven, in Choruses from the Rock, 1934
For now, reading this, on his blog,
Enough of blogs and enough of bloggers! It's bad enough that there are 70 million of them out there, littering the Internet with fast breaking news about what their authors ate for breakfast. But blogs are just one piece in the digital media revolution. They are boring to write (yawn), boring to read (yawn) and boring to discuss (yawn).
What I really want to discuss is the impact of Web 2.0 on truth, education, memory and power. I want debate the increasingly Orwellian role of Google in our information economy. I want to talk about the way in which the Internet has unleashed a plague of pornography, gambling and intellectual dishonesty on our youth. I want to discuss the future of the book. I want to imagine the future of knowledge when, to quote David Weinberger, everything is miscellaneous.
Anyone want to join me in this discussion?
I remembered TS Eliot (I always remember TS Eliot, on a large number of things, but that's another story)
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?
From TS Eliot, The Eagle soars in the summit of Heaven, in Choruses from the Rock, 1934
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