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Not directly relevant, but the use of the phrase “democratization” to describe a process that has nothing whatsoever to do with democracy (“anarchization”?) has

Not directly relevant, but the use of the phrase “democratization” to describe a process that has nothing whatsoever to do with democracy (“anarchization”?) has become a pet peeve of mine.

taeric 6y ago
I'm assuming it means getting public involvement? Getting people to participate in the process. That said, I do feel most of the examples are not that. The old shareware scene was much closer to the spirit. Now that we are pushing winners only, feels more like corporate control than it does people control. :(
- Pfhreak 6y ago
  Go visit http://itch.io/ http://itch.io/ and search around for a bit. There are thousands of games to explore here made by people from all walks of life. Most of these will see zero to minor financial success, but people are still making them because they are inspired to share some experience. Even on the major platforms, you'll find stuff like Umurangi Generation, a game about taking photographs in a surreal autocratic environment. That game is not a 'winner only', but it's fascinating and only exists because people who want to make that experience had access to tools they could understand and use. Democratic processes and tools are tools that are widely available to the public. It's not only AAA studios making games, everyone around the world is making games.
  - taeric 6y ago
    Hmm, fair. I was meaning more that used to games and engines were made by the same crowd as players. As such, I meant the winners to be the few engines that have remained. Feels like a smaller field, but with only bigger players.
dv_dt 6y ago
I think democratization is often used where decentralization fits better as a term.
- hated 6y ago
  In this context "empowerment" might make more sense than "decentralization" or "democratization"
- Pfhreak 6y ago
  In this case, the meaning is orthogonal -- it's about accessibility to the tools, and the accessibility of the tools. That could be centralized or decentralized, as long as the tools are easy and available to the masses.
  - dv_dt 6y ago
    But I think where that doesn't match is democratization means the masses have some critical decision input into the tools. Being able to get the tools on a wide scale, I would say is just plain consumerism or market reach.
jtsiskin 6y ago
The second definition: democratization The action of making something accessible to everyone. ‘the democratization of information through technology’ ‘Kirk has contributed greatly to the democratisation of electronic music and helped it becoming a genre to reckon with.’ https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/democratization https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/democratization
bigbubba 6y ago
It's really about the empowerment of the masses; giving 'non-programmers' the power to create software.
- centimeter 6y ago
  Right, so like I said - nothing to do with democracy.
Pfhreak 6y ago
Democratic has a well established meaning of 'being available or appealing to a broad group of people'. Democratization is the process of making something democratic and my use (and the wider use of the term to mean 'make accessible broadly') has been pretty well established for a long time now. The printing press (and printmaking in general) are both examples of democratic art -- making art accessible to the masses.

Not directly relevant, but the use of the phrase “democratization” to describe a process that has nothing whatsoever to do with democracy (“anarchization”?) has become a pet peeve of mine.

taeric 6y ago

I'm assuming it means getting public involvement? Getting people to participate in the process. That said, I do feel most of the examples are not that. The old shareware scene was much closer to the spirit. Now that we are pushing winners only, feels more like corporate control than it does people control. :(

Pfhreak 6y ago
Go visit http://itch.io/ http://itch.io/ and search around for a bit. There are thousands of games to explore here made by people from all walks of life. Most of these will see zero to minor financial success, but people are still making them because they are inspired to share some experience. Even on the major platforms, you'll find stuff like Umurangi Generation, a game about taking photographs in a surreal autocratic environment. That game is not a 'winner only', but it's fascinating and only exists because people who want to make that experience had access to tools they could understand and use. Democratic processes and tools are tools that are widely available to the public. It's not only AAA studios making games, everyone around the world is making games.
- taeric 6y ago
  Hmm, fair. I was meaning more that used to games and engines were made by the same crowd as players. As such, I meant the winners to be the few engines that have remained. Feels like a smaller field, but with only bigger players.

dv_dt 6y ago

I think democratization is often used where decentralization fits better as a term.

hated 6y ago
In this context "empowerment" might make more sense than "decentralization" or "democratization"
Pfhreak 6y ago
In this case, the meaning is orthogonal -- it's about accessibility to the tools, and the accessibility of the tools. That could be centralized or decentralized, as long as the tools are easy and available to the masses.
- dv_dt 6y ago
  But I think where that doesn't match is democratization means the masses have some critical decision input into the tools. Being able to get the tools on a wide scale, I would say is just plain consumerism or market reach.

jtsiskin 6y ago

The second definition: democratization The action of making something accessible to everyone. ‘the democratization of information through technology’ ‘Kirk has contributed greatly to the democratisation of electronic music and helped it becoming a genre to reckon with.’ https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/democratization https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/democratization

bigbubba 6y ago

It's really about the empowerment of the masses; giving 'non-programmers' the power to create software.

centimeter 6y ago
Right, so like I said - nothing to do with democracy.

Pfhreak 6y ago

Democratic has a well established meaning of 'being available or appealing to a broad group of people'. Democratization is the process of making something democratic and my use (and the wider use of the term to mean 'make accessible broadly') has been pretty well established for a long time now. The printing press (and printmaking in general) are both examples of democratic art -- making art accessible to the masses.