The main problem with tv is not the fact that a person watches video, although I think the video medium is one that tends to manipulative because it combines a

The main problem with tv is not the fact that a person watches video, although I think the video medium is one that tends to manipulative because it combines a lot of emotional elements. The problem is the linearity of television. You turn it on, something is on the television, and you watch it if you want, or turn to another channel. You hear it in the language, you watch tv, not watch Law and Order, or watch Friends (with some exceptions for really popular shows like Lost) Where Hulu/Netflix/DVR/Dvds come in is that they direct the watching experience. You choose to watch something, making it much less of a block of time everyday. Part of what Shirky's book, Cognitive Surplus, which was mentioned in the article, is that the cost of organizing people has gotten much less since the invention of the Internet. People now do things besides television watching, like Etsy, or discuss politics, or having communities of artists, because doing those things is more rewarding that television, and about as easy to set up as watching television. Note all of the startup advice hear on Hacker News. I agree with the author a little in the end, that the activities won't always be positive. The same abilities that allow us to coordinate disaster relief funding from the home also all pro-anorexia support groups to flourish. I also think the reviewer missed one of the better points in the book, that the difficult part will be getting people to do something more valuable than television. It's great to create, but most people will create lolcatz pictures, which isn't that much better than television. Overall, pretty good book at describing the Internet phenom of online groups being able to do a whole lot given the right circumstances. I imagine if Paul Graham was ever in any type of trouble, the denizens of Hacker News would probably turn out in a similar fashion to some of the examples given in the book.