Comments on: What would happen if information was truly free?

By: Michael

Michael — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 20:05:29 +0000

There is probably a happy medium for this. Wikipedia is a wonderful example of where that concept has worked. Totally free and open, very useful, popular, but still managed. Other real world examples where information is free and shared are total crap because of the old adage “you get what you pay for”. When people know they are going to get paid for information, the quality goes up and vice-versa.

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By: Fraser

Fraser — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 03:04:44 +0000

What a can of worms that would be for information to be free

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By: Martin Edic

Martin Edic — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 16:52:26 +0000

In this scenario there is no curation and little editing. The result would be a world of bad data and crappy content. I believe the writer understands this. However in the real world open access to data has had a different result- people are buying more music, film, books and other media because they want quality without having to wade through an indiscriminate sea of crap seeking a gem here and there. The crowd has embraced reputation management to help make choices through user-reviews, social traction and other ways to curate in a datastream without quality controls.
Without curation there is no need for editors, librarians, writers and artists.

And BTW Carl, very few artists make anything near a living wage from performance. That’s a myth.

By: Carl

Carl — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 19:36:46 +0000

It’s an interesting conceptual piece and certainly one way a free information society could go. However, it ignores performance as a medium for artistic expression. Bands make money through touring, not recorded music. I’ve paid for multiple author talks and readings, not just books themselves. Live theater was around before movies and would be around after they’re gone. Even if a free datasphere wrecked Hollywood, it would do nothing to Broadway, Chris Rock, Radiohead or David Sedaris, or hundreds of thousands of their smaller, local counterparts in thousands of local theaters.

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By: Alex

Alex — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 03:41:11 +0000

I agree with you Reden. The context in which a work was created must be taken into account when judging the quality of the work. Our friends, relatives, and acquaintances may not be high brow or low brow, insider or outsider artists, but they can create works that affect a certain amount of people in an intimate way that famous artists or filmmakers cannot possible hope to achieve.

And I believe people will always go see live music. The rise of the niche may put a dent in the big arena shows, but at least one of your local bars probably has $5-15 cover nights with some decent music weekly. I don’t see that changing – perhaps even increasing.

What may be even more interesting is when stereolithography becomes advanced (and cheap enough) to the point that we can distribute plans for toasters or “assemble your own” cars digitally. DRM and intellectual property law may slow it down, but eventually there will probably be p2p sharing of files for physical object creation – not just music/film/etc. Crowd sourced cars have already been designed, but now they need to shirk the traditional distribution model. 3D printers making 3D printers will probably occur around that tipping point. Super exciting! And as librarians, we may shift (already are…) from storing all that information, to helping people navigate it. We have the advantage of practicing helping people find information – and there will just be more and more of it.

By: Reden

Reden — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 08:16:23 +0000

It seems to me that having professional musicians, actors, writers and so on, has taken away our ability to enjoy ‘amateur’ work – ie that of our friends and families and neighbours. Look at the sneering at ‘am dram’ or the contempt Hamilton has in the piece above for amatuer writing and so on. I’m not sure it would be a bad thing to return to appreciating the – perhaps more limited, but worthy nonetheless – skills of those we know and care for. We’ve been tremendously spoiled by having access to the very best of creativity that the planet can produce, but it leaves no room for ordinary mortals who are all creative but often ashamed or made to feel ashamed of performing music, or painting, or writing because it doesn’t measure up. Perhaps we should welcome a return to a world where ‘professional’ entertainers are a rare thing.

By: Ivan Silva

Ivan Silva — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 01:43:49 +0000

Hi there,
Totally agree with many things here starting with the unique impact of science fiction. I also think the move to a complete open access milieu is inevitable but the question remains around sustainable business models online. How can we leverage great technologies such as p2p networks? What kind of intellectual property law will balance the need to remunerate creators and the human right to be informed? Is it a human right to have entertainment free of cost as well?