Doctorow\u2019s book left my head swimming in a sea of I\u2019s and O\u2019s! \u00a0I felt like he was trying to help me to grab hold of a wet greasy fish that was very much alive and wiggling to get free! \u00a0I usually take some notes as I work through a book but at the end I found I did not take many notes. \u00a0In fact, I really struggled to find a handle onto which I could open a door for interaction. \u00a0Not that it wasn\u2019t intriguing material, I just did not know how to engage it. \u00a0However, after thinking about the whole book, not just the parts, it dawned on me that Doctorow is profiting from the commodification of information. \u00a0One of his strategies, in brief, is to give away ebooks in order to spread the\u00a0notoriety\u00a0of his name and writing so that more paper books will be sold for his profit. \u00a0He writes, \u201cI sell my printed books by giving away electronic books, lawyers and architects and consultants are \u00a0in the information business and they drum up trade with Google ads, and Google is nothing but an info-broker \u2013 but none of us rely on curtailing access to information. \u00a0Like a bottled water company, we\u00a0compete\u00a0with free by supplying a superior service, not by eliminating the competition.\u201d*<\/p>\n
I found his writing about ebooks particularly interesting since I often prefer that format. \u00a0Ebooks are easier for me to carry and since I travel a good bit, that is important. \u00a0I also like to take notes and highlight and I prefer an easy way of returning to the note and highlight. \u00a0Ebooks gives me that easy path to return to those cogent points when needed. \u00a0I was challenged by Doctorow\u2019s\u00a0definition\u00a0of a book. \u00a0\u201c\u2018I take the view that the book is a \u2018practice\u2019 \u2013 a collection of\u00a0social\u00a0and\u00a0economic and artistic activities \u2013 and not an \u2018object.\u2019\u201d (Pg. 111). \u00a0The ramification of that definition as it relates to buying and selling are far reaching. \u00a0When are those activities owned? \u00a0When should copying them be illegal? \u00a0Aren\u2019t many of those activities being copied as a daily course of life with impunity? \u00a0Under what circumstances is one singled out and sued while others, even corporate giants, go free while violating the barriers thousands of times daily?<\/p>\n
Perhaps the quintessential example of the\u00a0commodification\u00a0of information and social media is Facebook. \u00a0I couldn\u2019t agree more with Doctorow on this point. \u00a0I really chuckled at his comments: \u201cEmails from Facebook aren\u2019t helpful messages, they\u2019re eyeball bait \u2026 . Facebook has all the social graces of a nose-picking, hyperactive six-year-old \u2026 . pure crack for a significant proportion of Internet users.\u201d (Pg. 180). \u00a0Wow! \u00a0I don\u2019t know Doctorow\u2019s faith ideas but one thing is for sure, he knows that the depravity of man is one of the sure aspects upon which to make money and he nails Facebook for their adeptness to tantalize the lower nature.<\/p>\n
I tended to agree, to the extent that I understood, with Doctorow. \u00a0As technology marches forward new ways of handling information without dampening availability will continue to challenge. \u00a0And when making profit is thrown into that journey the water becomes more\u00a0murky. \u00a0He closes the book with an interesting statement that bears some thoughtful consideration, \u201cI think our social contracts are stronger than our technology. \u00a0They\u2019re the\u00a0strongest\u00a0bonds we have. \u00a0We don\u2019t aim telescopes through each other\u2019s windows,\u00a0because only creeps do that.\u201d (Pg. 209-210). \u00a0I agree\u00a0with his statement but it is only true in an idealistic vacuum. \u00a0The use of technology does not take place in a vacuum but in the marketplace of reality. \u00a0It is subservient to those who control it whether they are \u2018right\u2019 or not. \u00a0And this is not an\u00a0argument\u00a0for democracy! \u00a0Horror of horrors to put depraved humanity in control! \u00a0Is our world marching ever higher on the moral highway with technology in tow as if it is only being used for good?<\/p>\n
Doctorow closes his book by claiming to be optimistic. \u00a0I am too. \u00a0But, perhaps, not for the same reasons.\u00a0 He believes we get to \u201cchoose the future we want to live in.\u201d (Pg. 210).\u00a0 As I view the world stage I do not see more opportunity to exercise that choice.\u00a0 Our choices are diminishing.\u00a0 I am optimistic because there is another stage whose curtains are retracting where only good choices will prevail!<\/p>\n
Doctorow, Cory.\u00a0Content: Selected Essays on Technology, Creativity, Copyright,\u00a0and the Future of the Future<\/em>. 1st ed. San Francisco:\u00a0Tachyon Publications, 2008. \u00a0Pg. 61.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Doctorow\u2019s book left my head swimming in a sea of I\u2019s and O\u2019s! \u00a0I felt like he was trying to help me to grab hold of a wet greasy fish that was very much alive and wiggling to get free! \u00a0I usually take some notes as I work through a book but at the end […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2,280],"class_list":["post-692","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dminlgp","tag-doctorow","cohort-lgp3"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/692","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=692"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/692\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2888,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/692\/revisions\/2888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=692"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=692"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=692"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}