Posts Tagged: free access

Week 5: Amateurization

You Are Not A Gadget
– Jaron Lanier

1. Lanier introduces his book by referring to “open culture.”  He explains that web 2.0 promotes freedoms people have never experienced through technology until the twenty-first century.  But who is this freedom benefiting most?  Humans or machines?

2.  According to “You are not a Gadget,” the most important thing about a technology is how it changes people and society.  It seems that every 5 years we are learning to use new technologies that we never knew we needed or would make such a large difference in our lives.  But is all this new technology being developed too quickly and negatively changing people?  Is the pace causing these new gadgets to hurt us in the end?

3.  Of all our outlets, advertising has been able to hold strong during the digital transition.  What type of power will advertising hold in the digital future?

4.  We have become accustomed to free access for most Internet information.  Lanier asks if it’s too late to go back and write new rules.  Once society knows they are at an advantage they will not accept change that seems like a step back.  Did we goof up during the development of the web by allowing free access or is this exactly what the web is designed to do (otherwise we would be going against the logical model)?

Quentin Tarantino’s Star Wars
– Henry Jenkins

1. As I was skimming the article, I began to wonder if some of the media listed (books, cable, film, magazines, etc) would eventually be completely wiped out.  Do you think society will come to a point in the future when everything will be digital?  Radio, newspapers, television have all had to settle into new niches over time as new mediums became available.  Would it be easier to scrap all the old and promote one platform that includes everything?

2. At the end of the article, Jenkins asks what we can expect for the future of digital cinema.  Do amateur filmmakers have a chance at becoming the majority and will big movie producers go by the wayside?