One of my main topics of interest with regard to the Internet is the notion of what my friend, the writer Jeff Turrentine, calls “epistemic closure.” Let’s face it: when it comes to information, it’s all too easy to find evidence out there for just about any bias or belief we can name; and I am far from the only ...
This week, Newsweek announced that the final print edition of the 80 year-old magazine would appear this coming December 31. This site launched with an interview with Newsweek veteran Christopher Dickey, who writes this morning, “Digital does not mean dead. Far from it.” Read his post on Shadowland Journal. I remember the proclamation “paper is dead” being echoed almost immediately ...
Last week, MPAA CEO Christopher Dodd spoke in San Francisco about fostering better collaboration between the entertainment and Internet industries. Not surprisingly, two voices from the tech industry, TechDirt and the Electronic Frontier Foundation rang out with rebuttal. Mike Masnick, editor of TechDirt, called Dodd a “predictable dissembler” and proceeded to attack him personally for “lacking the vision” for his role. ...
I have many friends in the filmed entertainment industry working at all levels of production and in just about every department. Some of them follow my blogs with interest, others just to be nice, and others I suspect wonder why I bother at all. There are many reasons why I choose to focus on matters related to the digital age, ...
Anyone who follows the ongoing tug-of-war between Hollywood and Silicon Valley will inevitably encounter variations on two cherished themes of the Web-centric: 1) that Hollywood is corrupt, monopolistic, and greedy; and 2) that Hollywood is incapable of embracing technology. If we are to believe that either or both of these generalizations are fair, then what are we to make of ...
