2 ms·
> “Most of the journalism I read in America right now is interested in how the internet is going to affect the business of publishing. I personally think that t
by empath75 8y ago
> “Most of the journalism I read in America right now is interested in how the internet is going to affect the business of publishing. I personally think that the internet represents simply an enormous flood of available information and entertainment and sensations with very little assistance to the consumer in terms of choosing, finding, discerning between those choices and this sort of rabid, capitalist fervor with which the internet is being not just developed but invested in. I don’t have to tell you about the .com stock market explosion and all that. It seems to me, as just a layman and an amateur, that the internet is almost the perfect distillation of the American capitalist ethos, a flood of seductive choices. It’s completely laissez-faire, with no really effective engines for choosing or searching and everybody being much more interested in the economic and material aspects of it than some of the aesthetic and ethical and moral and political questions attached to it.“
From the interview.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- oldsklgdfth 8y agoA similar sentiment is expressed by Neil Postman in "Amusing ourselves to death". He closely examines the impact of a visual medium on communication, as opposed to written work, and how it affects the messages that we can communicate. Ultimately the messages and ideas that we communicate shape our culture. The internet wasn't big at the time of the writing, but he is very insightful as to what it means for out communication. Side note: the types of conversation that take place on HN are not surprising when you take into account the lack of photos and emoji as opposed to say FB that has "like" features.
- keithpeter 8y agoThat quote struck me as well. The 'effective engines' for search are there I suppose but perhaps not so much for choosing.