Is the web making us egocentric?

It is the end of 2009 and the last couple of years have introduced us to a whole new world on the World Wide Web. As Lev Grossman describes the web in his article for Times from 2006⁽¹⁾: “It’s a tool for bringing together the small contributions of millions of people and making them matter”, this is exactly what it has become. It is the new platform for social interacting where a social convergence has taken place. The web makes it possible for individuals to create blogs, homepages, upload their own music and movies, keep contact with friends and also be able to talk with a lot of people around the world at the same time. The web has made it possible to put yourself in centre and to make your voice heard. The question is; has this made us more egocentric?  

In the article Facebook dumbing friendships down? ⁽²⁾ written by Neil Seeman, he discuss whether Facebook is ruining the meaning of friendship or if it has just changed meaning in todays society. My opinion is that Internet has made it easier to keep contact with several people at the same time since they are all gathered at the same platform, which saves us time since we don’t have to travel to share a conversation. Even the cellphone has been replaced. However I agree with Neil Seeman regardning the meaning of friendship. He mentions that nowadays we call it close friend or true friend, while the word friend has become a substitute for acquaintances. I do truly not believe that people with more than 100 of friends on Facebook really have so many real friends, this is including me. You can even make “friends” with people you have never met, and share personal photos and statements. To gather all friends at one platform makes us save time, but for what – ourselves? I believe it is a lot easier to converse online but true feelings and friendships in real life, is not comparable.

It is time to spend time on our relatives and close friends, because what goes around comes around, and in the long run I do not believe the world would be a happy place if people sat by themselves focusing on … themselves.

 

(1)   http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1569514,00.html

(2)   http://www.edmontonjournal.com/life/Facebook+dumbing+friendships+down/1995877/story.html

 

I salute creativity!

Breaking through the barriers of for example the music industry is not easy. Unfortunately the outcome of this is lack of hope and believing in your own talent and interest. File sharing makes it possible for those who do not have the chance to get their voices heard by the music companies, to upload and share their work for free and available for everyone. One of the fastest methods of marketing is the mouth-to-mouth-method, where promoting becomes more efficient the more people talk about it. This is exactly what has become possible by file sharing.

 Girl Talk, an American musician said that “if people were handing out paintings for free, there would probably be a lot more painters out there”. I could not agree more. Making producing and sharing more available, only makes people want to explore their own talent. Of course big artists, such as Britney Spears, lose a lot of money on free sharing but at the same time the one thing all artists want is to be appreciated for their work. After all the ones who are downloading their music is their fans, and I do believe that having fans is a good thing. However suing them will not benefit the artist.

It is time to realize that Internet has opened a lot of new doors for people with all kinds of interest and talents and I believe that one song gives birth to another and my point of view regarding copywriting is that it is just inhibiting the creative side of the human being. The industry has to come up with new ways of making profit.

I think that money have become much more important than it should concerning being famous for something. Unfortunately I believe more artists are focusing on the money you can earn in the industry rather than how lucky they are to work with their biggest interest and talent. Therefore I believe file sharing is only a new way of encouraging creativity. This is not only about music; it concerns all things available for downloading, for example movies and books. Art should be free for everyone!

Triumph of the nerds – when a hobby becomes business

Watching Triumph of the nerds gave me another perspective of the computers. Not only the hard work behind it, but also the strong belief in their creations has resulted in the fast development of the industry. One interesting aspect is that it all started as a hobby, and that business later on drew it to development. If the hobby was not developed into a successful business attracting competitors to the market, I do not think the fast expanding of the personal computer would have taken place.

One man who really impressed me was Steve Jobs, founder of Apple Inc. Even if his company decreased in profit in the competition with IBM, he never lost faith. However you can never ignore an economic decrease, but what I admired was his fighting spirit.

Another aspect I found interesting was the outcome of the offers that were given to Bill Gates and Gary Kildall, and how they decided to treat them. It was a choice of success or a regretting for life. You just can’t afford any sidesteps or wrong decision, you have to work hard all the time to not loose your position, and hopefully it will turn out to a successful business. 

 

helloyaa

this is my blog