The Associated Press created quite a stir recently by declaring that people who link to their stories are violating copyright. In effect, the organization declared war on the internet, and is taking what I think is a colossally wrong headed turn towards walling off their content from the very people it should be showing it to, ie) the world. Notable new media thinkers like Jeff Jarvis have railed against AP’s move, but now he’s been joined by an unlikely ally. Chris Aheam, the President of Reuters Thompson, has written a column called “Why I believe in the Link Economy,” where he explains how Reuters will embrace opportunities created by the internet, rather than fighting the future and losing.
So the biggest newspapers in the US got together recently to figure out how to charge for their content. It boils down to “our business model is broken, so let’s go with that and hope for the best.” Seriously, I know newspapers are losing money hand over fist, but has the recording industry taught them nothing? About the only glimmer of hope in the whole report is that papers will become more consumer-centric online….but even then specialized blogs will likely end up eating their lunch.
Which basically boils down to “everyone, anywhere, is now a publisher.” That sounds simple, but it’s actually a radical reconfiguration of our culture, as well as a widening of the funnel that allows ideas, memes and progress to propagate. Of course, you’ve got to choke down some idiocy while you’re at it, but that’s small potatoes considering the printing press split the Catholic Church down the middle and probably caused its fair share of wars.
While there are a few A-List internauts who I do follow prettyavidly, there’s a lot of truth in this blog post about people using the web as a bully pulpit for the same old egomaniacal salesmanship as we see in the offline world. (Courtesy of the always awesome Hez).
Time was that Dubai was a new hope for journalists getting laid off left and right here in North America and Europe. There was money everywhere, new publications founded at a rapid pace and big names like David Frost going to Al Jazeera and Martin Newland of the Telegraph and Canada’s own National Post moving to Abu Dhabi’s The National.
Well, the credit crunch put an end to all that. A lot of the ads running in UAE newspapers were for skyrocketing property, which has plummeted in the last few months, dragging the papers down with them.
So what’s ext for Dubai? Well, I wouldn’t write it off just yet. It’s already established itself as a beacon of development in the Middle East, and just as surely as the current crop of expats is jumping ship, once things pick up a new batch will be back to pursue opportunities they wouldn’t otherwise have. Though I doubt Dubai will reach the crazy heights of yesteryear…because none of us will.
Not strictly Doctor Who this week, but a cool interview all the same. The local chapter of SIGGRAPH (a group of computer graphics geniuses) brought Industrial Light and Magic special effects legend Dennis Muren to Vancouver, and Warren was able to interview him. Apologies for the dodgy audio during Warren’s questions….the details are too boring to go into, but at any rate Muren’s thoughts on visual effects, art and the motion picture industry are the good stuff.
E-books are a medium that, like picture phones, always seems to be right over the horizon but never actually comes to pass. In fact, an excellent article at Ars Technica recently detailed just how backward and resistant to change the publishing industry is, and the struggles pioneering e-book companies have had to go through to get both publishers and the public to accept paperless literature. But a number of factors (including, not surprisingly, the iPhone, but also the impending launch of a new Kindle reader from Amazon) are trending towards the e-book finally emerging as a viable reading platform.
A news report from 1981, detailing how people might one day read their news in electronic form, online. Like that’ll ever happen. More importantly, these cats are rocking the TRS-80 Color Computer, my first compubeast.
Vimeo, my new video host of choice, is presenting a new web series called Filmfellas, a “Dinner for Five” type show featuring four filmmakers engaging in badinage about process, web vs. TV and film and the changing media landscape. One of the regulars is Philip Bloom, who puts out some amazing looking short films using only a lens adapter and a Sony EX1 (a camera I’ve played with and mostly like). Based on what I’ve seen so far, I’ll definitely be a regular viewer. You can see the first episode below.