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| Time moves on...
Websites implode, the fabric of the internet changes and strains as different forces compete for resources. Legislative bombshells and tactical strikes by corporate-backed lawsquads purge and expose the tragically unaware, while the same activity that these frantic probing attempts are trying to expose continue in every corner of the world network, unabated. Life is a copyright, your senses are metered by the content-holders. If you smile © ® ™, is it sanctioned? The carving and partitioning of online space continues with the accuracy of a microtome, slicing away the translucent fragile layers of free movement, expression. I loved being online. I still do, but now the frontier is becoming a wasteland of privatized interests, bottom lines and quarterly earnings projections. The system of profit isn't at fault. The machine only consumes what its masters tell it to. I blame the human element. The gloppy conglomeration of hormone and cellular cohesion that resides in corporate boardrooms, collective decision making, or ego-fueled decisions that make little sense when examined by the rational. Part of the problem is short-term horizons. Make an investment, buy a bunch of racked webservers, lines to spew digitally-encoded information to the nearest backbone, and the clock is ticking. Where's the profit,(tick), what is our income, (tock). The relentless appetite of "stakeholders" (welcome to financial doublespeak at its finest), looking for a perpetual increase in earnings, at any cost. Management will give it to them, of course. Have to stay the course, slash-and-burn your way into the jungle of possiblility! Nevermind the small enclaves and societies that existed there first. Burn, merge and get every dollar, by the grace of profit. I've always been ad-adverse. The best advertising is someone I know personally telling me how good something is. Point-to-point, not multicast. The pre-bubble hype of smart agents does exist. It happens to be your circle of friends. You filter what you like, link to what others may enjoy, and generally get better information than relying on pre-packaged ad-jargon jingles. That is the part of advertising that bothers me the most. The slavish impulse to craft messages that hit the fattest part of the statistical distribution curve. Again, the profit-at-all-cost impulse is at the core of this behavior. We've become acclimated to the incursion of the corporate. We tolerate popups, text ads, interstitials, full screen flash monstrosities, "brought to you by", full sidebar ads, content so diluted you have to hop-scotch from page to page to read a full paragraph of typed text, all the while waiting for various overloaded adservers to pump out the next advertisement to your suffering browser. In a way, this website is a time capsule. Welcome to readable text, especially at night when a white background would sear your retina like steaks on a grill. Welcome to ad-free space. No popups. No interstitial ads. No ads at all. "But," say the critics, "you can afford this now, you don't get a lot of traffic." True, but I detest ads so much I vow to NEVER use them. It isn't a promise I take lightly. The outlook for a profit-fueled internet isn't good. I've applied broad strokes about why I don't like what is happening, but I'm almost too scared to see what the future will bring. As I type, there are people being dragged into courtrooms for wanting to share music they probably already own, the entertainment industry is trying to prevent home recording of any type, and for the most part, companies who rely on the vicious circle of profit are conceding. It isn't that they couldn't fight, but the threat of expensive legal proceedings is used as an effective economic terrorist tactic. "Want to be free to produce your product? Certainly, it will only cost you a few million dollars in legal fees." Frightening prospects, to be sure. My advice? Vote with your dollars. The single act of withholding profit can be the most effective way to prevent the "machine" from consuming everything you hold dear. I do realize that the somewhat miniscule effect of not buying a $20 dollar CD seems ridiculous, but the overall collective effort won't be ignored by the profit-driven. I could offer more interesting and effective methods, but of course the ecoterror tactic of lawsuits applies to me as well. I can't afford to speak my mind, but I'm sure some of you know what I am thinking. Good luck. ™ ® © desiato_hotblack @ hotmail.com |
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