Pick Your Cult Wisely

IconImageOverall, I can’t say I agree with the idea of the “Cult of the Amateur” by Andrew Keen, a book with the humble subtitle “How Internet Is Killing Our culture.”  I don’t think the internet is killing our culture (we were doing fine on our own).  I don’t feel a read-write culture is necessarily bad, though he does.  I’m not worried over remixes. He did cleverly hit on the idea that some undermining of jobs could have vast economic impact.  But in the end, his concern that amateurs of one stripe or another are unfairly lionized and squeeze out/exploit/ignore “real” talent was an important point, but also one he missed at the same time.

So I think he’s right and wrong. Let me clarify.

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No, New Technology Won’t Destroy Culture, Part Whatever

Ever encountered the idea that the internet and online technologies will somehow destroy the barrier between professionals and amateurs, leading us to a horrible world without the glorious quality media we're used to?  That's a joke of course, between fears of Harlequin self-publishing to the "Cult of the Amateur" balderdash, we're all familiar with it.

I've recently found yet another reason this fear is a total load of hamster leavings beyond the many I've stated before.

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