The Use of the Internet

When reading up on the Summary of Findings and the Introduction paragraph of "Born Digital" by Palfrey and Gassee, it has become apparent that there needs to be a younger base of people deciding the future. The summary stated for senior citizens (65+ years old) 30% had broadband usage, along with 61% for ages 50-64. Of the United States Supreme Court, five of them are under 65, and only three under 60. Statistics would lead to believe that only 4 of the Justices have broadband. That is less than half of the Supreme Court, the highest court in the United States, this is if the statistics are true for the given demographic. Continuing with the statistics 63% of American adults have adopted broadband, more than half of the US adult population is using broadband(in 2009) with the likely hood of increasing.

In "Born Digital" emphasis was placed on the difference between today's population that are "Digital Natives" and the parents of "Digital Natives". I have grown up with technology and being intertwined in it. I even created a presentation once on how to make PowerPoint presentations, Photoshopped some pictures, and created a few movies.

While I agreed on most of what was said, there were a few things that I noticed that are perceived differently by my "generation". P2p and torrenting were mentioned quite often during the piece, yes there is a negative persona around it, but is it really deserved? The #1 grossing movie of all time: Avatar. The #1 most pirated movie of all time: Avatar. With the price of movie tickets rising, the price of daily living going up, torrents are used mainly as a preview. If something is worth buying and easily attainable it will be bought. Louis C.K., a comedian, knows how the world works. He released a comedy special for $5, "No DRM, no regional restrictions, no crap. You can download this file, play it as much as you like, burn it to a DVD, whatever.", and stated:

"To those who might wish to "torrent" this video:

Look, I don't really get the whole "torrent" thing. I don't know enough about it to judge either way. But I'd just like you to consider this: I made this video extremely easy to use against well-informed advice. I was told that it would be easier to torrent the way I made it, but I chose to do it this way anyway, because I want it to be easy for people to watch and enjoy this video in any way they want without "corporate" restrictions.

Please bear in mind that I am not a company or a corporation. I'm just some guy. I paid for the production and posting of this video with my own money. I would like to be able to post more material to the fans in this way, which makes it cheaper for the buyer and more pleasant for me. So, please help me keep this being a good idea. I can't stop you from torrenting; all I can do is politely ask you to pay your five little dollars, enjoy the video, and let other people find it in the same way.

Sincerely,

Louis C.K."

In twelve days, even though the material was easy to torrent for free instead of paying the $5, he made over 1 Million dollars. His responses can be found at https://buy.louisck.net/news.

The evolution of how the world works is changing, for example if you are using Firefox as a browser, it is an Open Source browser that you can edit and make your own for free. Or running a linux distribution, it is again open source. Open source programs are becoming more prevalent as time progresses. How many applications on your smart phone are free? These are all made using an open source API. What about your phone itself? If you are running Android it is also open source. People will pay for a product that is easy to obtain and has good quality. Steam is an excellent example of this, many games are bought off of Steam instead of from the store, because it is easy to obtain.

People who say P2P networks are ruining the music industry are not looking at all the facts. How is this different from sending the CD to your friend and having him/her burn it? Or even burning it yourself and given it to them as a gift?

One of the greatest things to hit the web is Creative Commons, allows content to be "copied, distributed, edited, remixed, and build upon". As long as permission is obtained, the work done to it is yours.

The future can be bright, the future should be secured by the present and not by the past.