Somewhat meandering yet insightful catch of how we all contribute to a social being, why we are all contributors and why generalization and specialization combine into the harmonic whole of moving the world forward.
Translating the momentum of youthful energy into something useful is hard.
Everyone has moments of frustration mixed with restless energy.
There is something floating around in my head, it needs out.Not just any outlet is something I can tap into at will.
Sometimes the last thing I want to do is type into a keyboard.
Sometimes it is the only thing I want to do.
Sometimes a copy of illustrator is all it takes to release a flow of inspiration.
Sometimes a copy of Audacity and a mic serves as a way to capture my thoughts and ideas.
Sometimes a piece of paper and a ball point pen is all that is needed to feel fulfilled.We all occasionnally have a certain energy and lack the skills to distribute it properly. No matter how hard we try, we will never develop every skill we wish to.
I can’t write web sites or develop slick Ajax apps.
I can’t sit down with a soldering iron and make a robot.
The list of things I can’t do could fill up my hard drive.
But there are others who can. Every skill I lack is possessed by another human. And sometimes I’m sure they are lacking the inspiration to utilize their skills.
Regardless of the people around us, we all dwell in fortresses of solitude when something is stopping us from creating.For someone with an idea to seamlessly and effortlessly connect with someone searching for inspiration, that will be the true singularity. Humanity networked on a global scale. Everything being search-able. Every loose thought, that in the past would be tossed aside into the aether of time, indexed, stored. The limitations of our brains and thought retention removed, humanity will solve it’s problems and look to make the future a wonderful place- we hope at least.
It’s scary, and entertainment and Sci-Fi has certainly colored our views of what such a future will look like. I for one see it as a time for hope. For the chance that everyone will have to finally connect with others to make and create, regardless of Ivy-League connections, family money, physical appearance and other superficial factors that shape today’s society.
What stands in the way of this future:
Old media dinosaurs who will never see beyond commercial tactics of the 1900’s. They are finally figuring out they are dinosaurs albeit a bit late. They are struggling to keep up. But ultimately no matter how they try to adapt, they have a primal urge to own what they sell. They are sill on top financially, although their business models are not sustainable nor acceptable for a
connected future. They miss they point. They release digital products subjected to the same limitations that made society turn from physical media in the first place. To say they miss the point is quite the understatement.
Cynics, the insecure who project high school social consciousness on the internet. They are those who criticize the twitter users, the Qik streamers, the tumblrs. They point at the cutting edge of social mediums and shout “Everyone, Look at those DORKS, look how VAIN they are!”. It is 2008, the wealthiest people in the world are geeks, America is the most powerful country in the world due to geeks, our mom’s are using email due to geeks. Calling someone a geek is a compliment to the socially aware, only a fool regards “geek” as a potent insult in 2008.
The horde of “Web 2.0” start ups do much to hurt our future. Those who utilize the Internet commercially under the guise of “web 2.0” are mainly scum. They are merely gussying up web pages with gradient cliche colors and reflection effects. They release products that are beyond redundant, clogging up the path to innovation with pathetic mimicry. They apply old school monetization rules to their “start ups” which subjects them to compromise from their short sighted investors. Investors who -it should be noted- are closely related to the dinosaurs cited above.
