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Raw Bytes Computer News KPBX FM 91.1 Radio National Public Radio Network Frank Delaney Producer Broadcast on Wednesday Morning 7:35 AM During Morning Edition Support Public Radio ! The Theater Of the Mind |
In computer news this week 06/11/2008 Book Review – The Cult of the Amateur – How Today’s Internet is
Killing our Culture - by Andrew
Keen http://thecultoftheamateur.com/ For many
years now I’ve done an annual show on what people search for on the
internet – and instead of knowledge – it’s been pop culture
topics like Hannah Montana and Wrestling. I feel
the Internet has been dumbed down and over-commercialized. Information that
used to be free is now for-pay, and the internet is clogged with
misinformation. Yet I know that a generation of our children think everything on the
internet is the truth. The theme
of Andrew Keen’s book is that the internet threatens our values, our
economy, and our American way of life, with its blurring, obfuscation, and
even disappearance of truth. He refers
to it as today’s self-broadcasting culture, where amateurism is
celebrated, and how anyone with an opinion, however ill-informed, can publish
a blog, post a video, or change an entry on Wikipedia – and the
distinction between trained expert and uniformed amateurs has become
dangerously blurred. When I
read a book I have the bad habit of turning the page corners down; I did this
a lot on Keen’s book and I’ll read some excerpts I found really
interesting. On
Wikipedia anyone can change an entry, yet it has become the 3rd
most trusted site on the internet for information. Youtube
eclipses even the blogs in the inanity and absurdity of its content. Newspapers
– one of our traditional most trusted sources of information –
are being driven out of existence by Craigslist and it’s free
advertising. All traditional newspapers are shrinking both in size and in
circulation, as are traditional magazines. Rampant
global piracy of media and music on the internet is destroying both Hollywood
and the music industry, and threatening all copy righted material. The
internet now operates under the law of digital Darwinism – the survival
of the loudest and most opinionated. The
simple ownership of a computer and an internet connection doesn’t
transform anyone into a serious journalist, but millions of amateur
journalists think it does, though most lack any serious journalistic
training. Content is unvetted. The
internet was supposed to level the playing field for amateur musicians, but Keen
points out how millions of music videos views and downloads of music,
don’t equate to profit, using as an example a music group that had a
Myspace page with 9 million plays of its video, and 1.3 million downloads,
resulting in zero revenues. The
internet is creating moral disorder, including illegal downloading, and
addictions including gambling and internet porn. The internet
has also created the viral video - the spread of misinformation
– anyone can post a video on Youtube and in hours it can have millions
of hits. In
summation Keen points out that it is Parents obligation to protect children
from the evils that lurk on the Web today, and he gives some good pointers on
what to do with your children as they spend more and more time online. The Cult
of the Amateur – How Today’s Internet is Killing our Culture - by Andrew Keen. A very good book I
think all internet users will benefit from reading. |
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For Raw Bytes This is Frank Delaney (C) 2008 MTA Micro
Technology Associates http://www.mtamicro.com/kpbx.html PO Box 31522 Spokane, Wa 99223-1522 (509)624-7230 |
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