1. According to Andrew Keen, there are certainly grave consequences in store for us as a result of today's participatory Web2.0. There are a variety of values and institutions that are being threatened as a result of this new era as explained by Keen. The first one that I think should be noted is a combination of both a value system and an economic institution: literature. John Updike said in 2006, "Booksellers, defend your lonely forts," and he may not have been entirely wrong. Technology has become advanced enough to the point where we are able to completely digitize entire texts. This includes books, text books, classics, newspapers, magazines: everything. Book stores around the country have had to close down as a result of the digitalization of texts and the resulting revenue losses that have ensued. At the same time, media sales (digital books, download-able literature, etc.) have been on the rise, especially at Amazon.com at 21%. Not only are the physical copies of the books being lost but also the values surrounding literature. No longer are we decided what we read based upon the guide and knowledge of a book store owner or through relationships of the staff at the local library. There are now websites to tell us what we may like based on our past choices, yet this is completely autmotated: a mere algorithm completely lacking the soul and personality that a bookstore can offer. It is THIS aspect of Keen's fears that I do have strong feelings for; I do agree with it. Literature, in my opinion, is an incredibly sacred facet of culture and it is certainly falling to the concept of digitalization. The concept that one day we may be rewriting the classics such as The Great Gatsby completely sickens me. I should hope that we never reach that day, and until then, technology is going to continue and therefore I know that there is no stopping this. I do believe that there are measures which must be taken so that authors and writers can be given credit for their work. It is a scary though to think that the concept of a bookstore is becoming obsolete; but is there any way to stop it?
Another economic institution that Keen expresses concern for is the music industry. This is certainly the issue that we have been dealing with the longest in terms of piracy and digitalization issues. The music industry is suffering worse than it ever has. As a result of over-saturation of artists and bands, misplaced money, and the fight to stay afloat in the digital marketplace, the industry has become a lost puppy desperately trying to find its place in the rapidly changing world of media and technology. The fact of the matter is that technology has changed the entire way that music works. It is no longer enough to sign to a record label, produce a CD, and have a music video on MTV. That may have worked fifteen years ago but the fact of the matter is that it is not safe to sign to a label anymore. Music is suffering a serious blow and continues to do so because the industry has yet to come up with an alternative to buying music. Most people these days are not doing so; they're using programs like Limewire, Torrent, Rapidshare, or Megaupload to get their music instantly and it is not going to change. Unless one has an extreme loyalty to the label and to the artist (mostly the label because artists see very little of record sales), a consumer is going to choose to have the product for free rather than pay for it. I agree that this is certainly an issue; it is time for a change in the industry. Unlike Keen though, I believe that there is a solution. Programs must be created that allow music to be free, safe, and downloadable. By funding these programs with advertising, the artists can still get paid based on how much their songs are played and the advertisers get an entirely new form of exposure. Underground music is growing stronger, fortunately, in the face of all of this. Bands and artists are rebelling against the absurdity of the industry, choosing not to sign with labels and creating their own success. Bands like The Format, Anathallo, You, Me, and Everyone We Know, Steel Train, Person L, and many others have kept their heads afloat and remained unsigned and loyal to only themselves. They have expressed acceptance for new media and free music, hoping that fans will know and love their music and place their money elsewhere such as on merchandise and concert tickets. Physical music is no longer a necessity; it is just a gateway to new and different profits. If the industry does not soon look at the music as a gateway, it will continue to drown and eventually, it will die.
Finally, Andrew Keen addresses the concept of cheating and the rise of plagiarism, especially in college students as a result of new technology. With books and texts readily available on the internet, immediate sources like Wikipedia, and the ability to buy a term paper instantly, there is no doubt that cheating is certainly much easier. Ask any college or high school student; an overwhelming amount of them will admit to having cheated before, I guarantee it. And I mean cheating at home, when writing a paper, when given access to a computer; not when taking a test or studying in class. It is now so common for Sparknotes to be used, NoFearShakespeare to be utilized, and blogs to be integrated in communication between students so that school work is no longer a solitary work. Andrew Keen fears this and blames it on technology; he believes that the ethics of our generation have degraded. And maybe this is true; maybe the Internet and technology have allowed us to demoralize ourselves and do things that we would not have done without technology. But there is also a certain responsibility that teachers and educators have to ensure that this does not happen. These are the people that have not grown up with technology and are the supposed "non-cheaters." Since this is the case, teachers must enforce that students don't cheat and they must take the extra measures necessary to make sure there is no plagiarism. This includes checking over the papers, requiring services like Turnitin.com to be used, and utilizing other "anti-cheating" tools. It is not losing trust in students and youth; it is merely making sure that everything is being done honestly and is being used as a preventative measure so that temptation is completely eliminated.
2. Moore's concept of "sheep devouring men" was a reaction to the Enclosure Laws that banned the peasantry from the fields of the great estates. According to Keen, this can be related to our society almost five hundred years later, especially concerning the Web 2.0 world. Journalists are being consumed by computers. But it is not really computers that are doing the consuming; it is the technology and the programs that are a part of the world of computers. Computers have been around for years and years but they are starting to become much more than simple machines used for simple tasks. Journalists are no longer able to find work because newspapers are being swallowed up by Internet-based news sites. Television ratings and movie attendance numbers have plummeted because consumers are now able to be entertained at home, in front of the computer, for free, by companies like Youtube. Bookstores are becoming obsolete because of the digitalization of text and the instant availability of information on the web. We have created something that is starting to evolve and change into something entirely different. Fifteen years ago, our society never could have imagined such a wild transformation and all of the impact that it has had on our culture. Like sheep, we have guided and cared for the Internet, allowing it to grow, to flourish, and to mature. But unlike sheep, computers and the Internet have rapidly evolved as a result of our ideas. If digitalization and new media is in fact a negative thing, can we really complain about it? We have not created Terminator-esque robots and machines that think for themselves and are taking over our society; the Internet is our invention. We control how it evolves, how far it goes, and how it changes. God created sheep and shepherds herd them. We are both God and the Shepard: we have created an evolving entity and we have the power to control if it lives or dies.
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