When I read reports such as this one, I always transpose its terms into the key of the educational and ecclesiastical organizations I inhabit — and I typically recognize a great deal of wisdom. Of course, they’re true enough of their world of origin. (I worry about the title of this one, though: “A Priest, a Minister, and a Rabbi Maxim: People lacking imagination, skepticism, and a sense of humor should not work in the security field.” Are they suggesting that priests lack imagination?) As soon as I saw the Cluetrain webpage, I edited a copy to fit the seminary-education system, and gave it to the dean.
And remember Radiohead’s “Pay What You Like” model for In Rainbows? And do you remember a big fuss shortly thereafter, when word got out that (shock! horror!) many people downloaded the album and didn’t pay for it? I had the impression, perhaps misplaced, that many people figured that showed the inadequacy of net-native distribution. There’s one problem, though: Radiohead sold very many more copies of In Rainbows than their previous albums. “Warner Chappell’s Head of Business Affairs Jane Dyball will reveal that the digital publishing income from the first licence (for the Radiohead pay what you want site) alone dwarfed all the band’s previous digital publishing income and made a ‘material difference’ to Warner Chappell UK’s digital income.”
“Piracy is killing music, except where it’s making money for musicians hand over fist.” Not as dramatic a slogan, but truer. And that’s not even counting the savings on legal fees, since Radiohead/Warner won’t be suing music fans for downloading this one. No one could have foreseen this — except people who did, and said so, five or ten years ago.
And finally, good news on the ubiquitous wireless front.