"Technology could enable
a whole generation to create—remixed films, new forms of music, digital
art, a new kind of storytelling, writing, a new technology for poetry, criticism,
political activism—and then, through the infrastructure of the Internet,
share that creativity with others."
- Lawrence Lessing.

I wanted to type a quick entry on the video shown to us this week by Mr Choy. This video spurred me into thinking about a lot of ideas: Firstly, whether the future described in the video would really manifest itself in reality - secondly, about whether new media will REALLY replace traditional media - and thirdly, about the idea of "control and society".
Let me jump straight to the last point. Lawrence Lessing, in his book The Future of Ideas, Lessing talks about a central idea that has followed humanity throughout generations: the idea that "control is good." This idea has been hardwired into us by society over the years. We automatically tend to think that anything that is "free" is inferior. For example, just take many teachers' attitudes towards using information from Wikipedia. Many academics feel Wikipedia is not scholarly enough to cite because it is being edited by ordinary people and is free.
But the fact is not all the things we use in life are paid for: for example, the music we listen to the radio, and the roads we travel on. At least, most of them are not paid for directly.
The idea of control being good is exemplified by the "old" world trying to take over the emerging "new" world, in the video.
Lessing says says: "Free resources have been crucial to innovation and creativity, and without them, creativity is crippled." This is not to say that everything should be made free; rather there are many resources, especially on the Internet which should be left free for all to use.