“Mr Lanier lays into the Web 2.0 culture, arguing that what passes for creativity today is really just endlessly rehashed content and that the “fake friendship” of social networks “is just bait laid by the lords of the clouds to lure hypothetical advertisers”. For Mr Lanier there is no wisdom of crowds, only a cruel mob.”
Earlier this year, Jaron Lanier, a technologist, musician and polymath best known for pioneering work in the field of virtual reality, published “You Are Not A Gadget: A Manifesto”. He has become a stern critic of many of the internet’s sacred cows.
Thus far, The Economist.
Endlessly rehashed content. That’s precisely what this tumblething happens to be.
I make my living off so-called “Web 2.0”, and I know that it’s the worst kind of ephemeral bulls**t masquerading as the “new, game-changing way to do things and network and make friends and buy stuff—yeah, especially, buy stuff.”
It’ll be gone or unrecognizable in five years, and that’s by design. Well, the “buy stuff” part will still be around.