From reading in the popular press about Jaron Lanier he strikes me as more of an artiste than technologist. Which is fine by me.
His comments in this article hint at something that nags at me as a musician and lover of music, which is the rise of the concept of "content" to describe creative works.
The ubiquity of digital networks has led to an unprecedented level of commodification of music (for example). Various large entities like (Google, Apple, Facebook) and influential networks of transmission (bit torrent, Grooveshark, Spotify, Mega-Upload) seem to have not only captured more of the value of creative artists, they have also captured huge cultural mindshare. (The tech CEO as rock star).
Google in particular disturbs me as it seems like the search engine has become more important than what is searched for. This somehow feels hollow to me.
I'm interested in general about how meaning is created by and for people. Music is an old means of adding, or at least enhancing meaning.
Now figures like Steve Jobs take some of that role. But there is at least some irony that the gadget that broke Apple into the popular mainstream was a music player, completely un-interesting with out the content that it commodifies.
His comments in this article hint at something that nags at me as a musician and lover of music, which is the rise of the concept of "content" to describe creative works.
The ubiquity of digital networks has led to an unprecedented level of commodification of music (for example). Various large entities like (Google, Apple, Facebook) and influential networks of transmission (bit torrent, Grooveshark, Spotify, Mega-Upload) seem to have not only captured more of the value of creative artists, they have also captured huge cultural mindshare. (The tech CEO as rock star).
Google in particular disturbs me as it seems like the search engine has become more important than what is searched for. This somehow feels hollow to me.
I'm interested in general about how meaning is created by and for people. Music is an old means of adding, or at least enhancing meaning.
Now figures like Steve Jobs take some of that role. But there is at least some irony that the gadget that broke Apple into the popular mainstream was a music player, completely un-interesting with out the content that it commodifies.