By Peter Mosley
<rant>
This article is rife with sensationalism, trite snippets and sound bites. Sadly, it has no relevant connection to the Net.
I will not denigrate NOW Toronto regardless of their political views nor their chock-full-of-escort-ads section and ad revenue – what I will put down is this search for something to say about the future of the Net. Oh and for all you folks who read NOW Mag denigrate means to put down (Borrowed from Bob Newhart!)
Ok, I am old. 59 years old, in fact.
The Net has been around as long as I have. It was created in 1951. So was I. And since 1951 it has done just fine regardless of the Web 2.0, Social Media and now Web 3.0 labels folks want to create. If you were not there since the beginning, trust me, everyone and their brother, sister, cousin, wierd old Uncle and son-in-law has tried to port over Shovelware online. It is a virtual mall, it is a magazine, it is DM, it is a record label, it is cheap TV etc etc etc etc (Notice 4, count em, 4 etc!) It is none of these. It is the Net. If ya want to see someone NOT getting the Net, watch someone spouting these tired, hackneyed terms.
In this article, for the record, lets just point out that there is no such thing as Web 2.0. The underlying intent of Mr O'Reilly's coined phrase was that the web had changed. The best explanation I have heard was that when the web came along we put our word docs there. We hyperlinked to them. Then we got fancy after a while and put up all sorts of jumping bunnies and throbbing gristle in these docs. But we were simply serving up documents.
When the Web changed it changed fundamentally. We were able to have all your your data talk to all my data. Think Excel vs Word. Google is the best example of this. Hold on, I must stop and sigh. I do love Google.
Anyway, je digress … this new Web NOW talks about – in the guise of Apple and the iPad is so not new. AOL did all this in the 80s. A closed-circuit-go-to-my-server-dial-up-thing and we will pretend it is the Net (Don't ya just love a tmesis?) On AOL you are not really online. Just like a Bulletin Board System was not online.
Apple is an amazing company – the digital centre of your life. Hell, I know it's mine. My iPhone, my iPod, my MacBook Pro, my desktop iTunes, Logic etc etc – Oh, I want an iPad, and will get one. Not right this second, mind you, but I will get one. I look at it as the ultimate interface and control device. Imagine controlling Logic with that device. [le sigh … ]
As for the Net – it is still wonderfully simple and elegant and slightly broken. The Cluetrain written in the late 90s really spelled out all of this – please have a peek http://cluetrain.com/. Sadly, most new-comers have neither read, nor heard about this. When folks mention the net as a conversation The Cluetrain coined that BTW, they say this with absolutely no concept of what an online conversation really is. It is not the real world modality of you in a mall chatting with your friend. It is much more. It is a way for you to be at one end and me at the other. And the plain truth is that the more shit we have in the middle the more the conversation is devalued. Apple is not building a conversation tool. They are building a digital interface. Avec neat apps.
The idea that Apple is, or will, take over the Web or make something that emulates an 80s AOL is laughable.
If it wasn't for Apple there would not have been the proliferation and wonder we saw online. Most folks built all the early sites on Macs. I was part of MAGIC – the Macintosh Awareness Group in Canada which turned into one of the very first ISPs. Apple was and is the easiest way to get online. Full stop.
Apple is doing what Apple does best. Increase shareholder value. And if they could do that supporting gambling and porn they would. But they don't. They have amazing products – I use em daily – and their closed-circuit culture is just that.
iTunes arguably the best music delivery system. Their stores, real and online, the new bookstore and all of the wonderful stuff they put out, well … le sigh encore.
Stop with the BS!
</rant>
Posted via email from mose's posterous
WELL SAID!
~ Mark the American
Since when did this become a personal blog? Your “articles” are so wordy and unprofessional that this is no longer a site I find value in subscribing to. The one article I have been impressed with since the relaunch was by a guest contributor.
How about less of your personal diatribes and more well put together content? I’m sure I’m not the only one who could do without the poorly thought out article, run on sentences and “je digresses” that would be better left to a blogspot.
Thanks for the note Michelle.
It became a personal Blog when I bought it. Ergo, it is within my prerogative to do what I think is right and it will certainly have my voice here from time to time. It has changed ownership and it will definitely be changing even more.
If there are contributor stories that I feel are suited to this forum I will run them, and have. If you look at the list of recent articles you will see quite a few. That also will change as past and future contributors ramp up with new articles. Don’t forget, this ceased publishing for a while. It is taking a wee-bit of time for folks to get back into their writing stride.
More rants Mose!