The Web killed the Expert Star (not)

I read that Andrew Keen will be publishing a book called The Cult of the Amateur: How today’s Internet is killing our culture discussing how the new participatory Web 2.0 is threatening our values, our economy, and ultimately the very innovation and creativity.

the cult of the amateur

I haven’t read the book (though I’m really looking forward to) but I’ve been following the great debate that Andrew is having with Chris Anderson (author of the The Long Tail).

Andrew says:

It has nothing to do with blogs or technology, but all these things are coming together in a way that concerns me and I think that if our traditional institutions of politics or culture or economics continue to be undermined by this personalization and radical individualization of things, then I think we will be in trouble.

I think that if the Internet becomes more and more of a soapbox to trash elected politicians and mainstream media figures and to conduct these witch hunts on anyone who ever makes a mistake, then I think that eventually we are going to find ourselves in a world where we’re just going to be staring at a mirror.

It’s going to result in what I call cultural and economic anarchy, and I don’t think that is a good thing. I think it will result in less community, which is ironic given the fact that this thing is supposed to be about community.

The Web (as a technology) is about choice.
It looks like Andrew has a very narrow view of the Internet. Everyone has. That’s the way it works. However, he says the Web could become just about trashing elected politicians and mainstream media figures. Andrew can not judge the use of the Internet by his own usage. He is concerned that the conversation is going to get much more diluted. I agree with him but I see it as good thing. Instead of having a smaller number of opinions we’ll have thousands. Having a choice is a good thing.

However, people will need to create and apply their own filters. In my case I’m not interested in elected politicians and mainstream media figures so I’ve created my own filters and tend to read a lot more about technology, art, food and wine. I get to choose what I want to read through my own educated choice.

On the other hand I’m also a producer. Amateur on some subjects, probably expert on other. I have my own blog where I write my own opinions (like this one). I do so to express my self and at the same time everyone else (that wants) gets my view on the ideas that Andrew has written about. Would this not be a participatory Web and I would not be able to write this and Andrew (or anyone else) would not be able to read what I might have to say.

Education for filtering
I would be scared if I could imagine a World where everything was just like it is now except that technology would have provided with even more individual power. Thankfully this is not the future and the World is evolving as a whole. In the same way we have adapted to other individual powering technologies, like cars and mobiles, we’re also learning now how to deal with this new form of individual power.

The same way we have learned to make some opinionated choices (like driving safely or dangerously) we will (hopefully) have to learn how to filter (and find our experts from) all the available information that we have access to. Only then, we will be can value (and pay) for the new culture or the new business models that the new valuable institutions have created.

One Web does not fit all
From the book description:

Our most valued cultural institutions, Keen warns—our professional newspapers, magazines, music, and movies—are being overtaken by an avalanche of amateur, user-generated free content. Advertising revenue is being siphoned off by free classified ads on sites like Craigslist; television networks are under attack from free user-generated programming on YouTube and the like; file-sharing and digital piracy have devastated the multibillion-dollar music business and threaten to undermine our movie industry.

Many industries that (thought they) had solid business models have been challenged by new ventures that have made things in a different way. It works for advertising, it works for music and it will work for many other industries. Which is not to say that theater or arts (for example) are ruined or will ever suffer from using the Web. On the first interaction of the Web, the Louvre Museum website did not stop people from going there. On the second interaction of the Web, even with all the artists that are out there, people won’t stop visiting the museum or buying art.

The Web does not work the same way for everything. Many times the concept of the participatory Web is put together with the concept of the Wisdom of Crowds. As I’ve written before trusting the Wisdom of the Crowds depends very much on the area we’re talking about. Generalizing the idea that the crowd is smarter than the individual is a mistake. So is also the idea that the Web is going to kill creativity or innovation.

I’m looking forward to read the book and take a look at another perspective of the participatory digital society some of us are living in. It’s good to have the option to read this book.

April 10, 2007 | Tags: , , , | 3 Comments 

reading . books @ London

While I was in London I was able to read a couple of good books. The time spent in the underground, parks, river side, cafes, museums, etc. where a perfect set to put some of my reading interests up-to-date. Here are some of the books I read together with my opinion on each of them:

1841125792.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_V50630598_.jpgAnyone Can Do It: Building Coffee Republic from Our Kitchen Table - 57 Real-Life Laws on Entrepreneurship

This was a book I bought to get my holiday reading season starterd without choosing one of those hard-to-read books. It’s a very simple book on how a sister and a brother built a chain of cafes in London. I think the value of this book in on the entrepreneurship and bootstrapping ideas that are mentioned throughout the book.

1401302378.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_V63383464_.jpgThe Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More

The book from Chris Anderson was the one I most enjoyed reading. Having read the (now famous) Wired article, I had already read about The Long Tail concept. But the book goes one step further in contextualizing and explaining how the Long Tail is changing society by leveraging Internet as the biggest distribution channel ever and with almost unlimted customization possibilities.
Another reason that made me enjoy the book was the fact that Adegga is based on the Long Tail of Wine and I was able to understand and develop some of the ideas I have been working on for the project.

1590593898.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpgJoel on Software: And on Diverse and Occasionally Related Matters That Will Prove of Interest to Software Developers, Designers, and Managers, and to Those Who, Whether by Good Fortune or Ill Luck, Work with Them in Some Capacity (Paperback)

I really enjoyed reading the ideas that the Joel on Software blog author has on sofware development. It goes through very interesting practical analysis of business, marketing and programming. I’ve been trying to apply some of the ideas on time management but working on an open-space and being interrupted every 5 minutes makes it very difficult (I should spend more time alone). Back to the book. It was also very interesting to read the author’s ideas on running a small business based on his experience as Fog Creek Software owner.

0553817280.02._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V56641027_.jpgI’m currently reading Families of the Vine. A book that tells the one-year journey of the author througout wine producers in the the south of France.

Since I returned I haven’t read a full chapter of this book (which I started in London). And it’s not just a matter of lack of time. In my day-to-day I have to concentrate on all the things I have to do. At night, when I finally open the book, I’m too tired to be able to understand any 2 paragraphs.

On a more technical note I have in my bag 2 books that I also brought from the holidays: Building Scalable Web Sites by Cal Henderson and Ambient Findability by Peter Morville.

0596102356.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V52808810_.jpg0596007655.02._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V1129826195_.jpg

I have added all of the books to my book library at LibraryThing where I have been discovering other people that have the same books as me (yes, Social Networking for books).

August 31, 2006 | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a Comment 

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    andre_ribeirinho_t.jpg My name is André Ribeirinho, I'm an entrepreneur who lives in Portugal
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    Adegga - Social Wine Discovery


    Adegga is a social wine discovery service. The idea is to take the complexity out of wine and allow people to discover wines based other people's choices.