Pay Me For Content

Really? I expected better from such a radical thinker as Jaron Lanier. His recent op-ed in the NYT is just not making any sense at all.

Traditionally, artists, writers, musicians have been at the mercy of publishers. It's wrong to think that the web changes this basic model. It simply offers an alternative. But why is the web becoming so popular that it is eating away at other traditional media? Precisely because the content is free.

Let's think about the real value of content. Content on it's own really is worth nothing. Value comes from the packaging - the convenience and aesthetic delight of combining content with form to make a true product. This is the case for all forms of media, no matter how high or low-tech they might be. If artists and writers want to make money, they simply need to focus on product development. Sure, they could seek out designers and publishers to develop a new way of selling content online, why not? But why should anyone else go out of their way to support this widely? We're all trying to make money to survive this capitalist disastermangle. A book is a book. If it is worthy, it will make money, no matter what format it is marketed in. If it isn't marketed, it won't make money. Anyone who becomes an artist is either doing it by choice, or has been driven by disposition. They will be doing it no matter what. There is no free lunch.

It is not the responsibility of designers or technologists per-se to provide this free lunch by rallying against the free content model in general. It works fine, and it could be incredibly important for our future in light of growing threats towards privacy and free speech. We would be better off focusing our attention on those who lack the privileges or circumstances to even access the internet, let alone dream of making a creative living online. Last time I checked, that was a couple of billion people there. Not exactly insignificant eh?