Sep 20 2010
Benkler
1. How much peer-to-peer sharing is okay? In terms of what should be open source and available for free to users?
2. What can motivate us, as designers, to produce information, knowing that other people are going to use it? Should we be okay with wanting to inspire other people from our work?
Shirky
3. Is everyone really capable of “publishing” in today’s culture? How can we truly define publishing and the art of being a professional?
Sep 18 2010
Week 4: The Rise of the Network
Here Comes Everybody! – Clay Shirkey
1. If markets are such a good idea, why do we have organizations at all? Why can’t all exchanges and value happen in the market?
2. Is company growth always a good idea? Why are big companies failing?
3. Our world used to be a one-way flow of information: Messages were developed and then we consumed them. Content was filtered and there was no interaction. How were we able to switch to a two-way interactive approach?
4. What is non-financial motivation and how has it shaped digital information collection? Are traditional business theories in danger?
5. How does the internet play into money and company growth today? Have companies become smaller or have they gotten smarter?
The Wealth of Networks – Yochai Benkler
Ch. 1-4, 10
1. What are some characteristics of information production as an economic phenomenon?
2. How do we know that the content produced by widely distributed individuals is accurate and trustworthy (Wikipedia)?
3. Should society be concerned that our new freedom will fray social ties and fragment social relations?