[wordup] AMATEUR HOUR: the "me" in media

[Adam Shand]

I think this is fabulous.

From: http://www.corante.com/amateur/

AMATEUR HOUR: the "me" in media
By Jonathan Peterson
Friday, January 31, 2003

Reclaiming Amateur

Amateur Hour is very much a work in progress, but I felt like something 
of an "official" launch with an introduction was in order.  I still 
don't know what this column wants to be when it grows up, but here's a 
stab at defining where we're headed.  And while it's not quite a 
manifesto and might be a lot to digest at one sitting, it does attempt 
to lay out just what we think is afoot.
Death to Consumers

Mass media in the last half of the twentieth century turned us all into 
entertainment consumers; taking away much of our natural, human 
inclination to creativity as singers, pianists and storytellers.  Who 
could be funnier than Carol Burnett or more charming than Johnny Carson? 
  Will the nieces and nephews sit still for Uncle Joe's guitar when 
they're used to hearing Doc Watson or Eric Clapton or B.B. King?  Why 
compete?  Better to take a backseat becoming a passive consumer and 
sharing jokes from the previous night’s broadcasts around the water 
cooler. But as the twenty-first century dawns, mass media has 
fragmented, professional quality production tools have become desktop 
commondities given away with the purchase of a new camera.  Paired with 
a dearth of innovative "professional" content these changes have led to 
a quiet, but quite real, revolution in the quantity and quality of 
"amateur" content.

Power to the People

Pop culture, while still a touchstone of common experience, is no longer 
the model for what we should be, but is instead a starting point for 
ironic riffs and cut-up performance art.  Mass media long ago turned 
from uplifting mankind to catering to the lowest common denominator. 
But without the straightjacket of FCC regulations, Web content can 
always go lower and be more “real”.  More positively; without 
advertisers’ demands for “reach”, individuals can aspire to the most 
intimate, emotional artistic visions.  Andy Warhol’s 15 minutes of fame 
is closer at hand than ever before; whether in the unintentional camp of 
Mahir’s I kiss you, or truly beautify “amateur” content like spiders, 
megatokyo, nowhere girl or {fray}

Two Visions of the Future

Despite the best efforts of multinational media conglomerates (what I 
call "Big Content") to turn the Internet into television, the broadband 
Web is rapidly becoming a personal two-way medium that is 
revolutionizing human communication.  This may sound like an echo of the 
breathless dotcom bubble and for the hundreds of millions for whom the 
basics of human survival are a daily struggle it may sound frivolous. 
But this isn't a sales pitch to a venture capitalist, and while the 
digital divide surely exists, the lowered bar of access means that the 
stories of the left behind are that much more accessible.  What's more, 
all of humanity surely benefits with the broadening of access to the 
power of free expression.

The revolution is occurring in two separate, but interrelated areas:

The Rebirth of Storytelling

The dot bomb, despite the human cost in jobs and retirement accounts, 
has left behind tangible benefits.  The deployment of a global broadband 
interactive network, which projected interactive TV profits could never 
justify, has been largely completed - and the people who were chasing 
after a quick buck have moved on. Millions of average people are 
becoming their own media companies with inexpensive digital still and 
video cameras.  Digital video and audio production software that is 
comparable to the tools I was using professionally less than a decade 
ago are priced under $100. Lightweight content management and publishing 
tools abound.  Whether blogging, creating flash animations, web commix 
or inventive hybrids, more and more people are turning off their TV and 
being inspired to make cool stuff instead.

A groundswell of amateurs and auteurs are already competing with Big 
Content companies for the attention of the masses. At some point films 
like the 405 and Rustboy will be competing for “consumers’” wallets as 
well. While Big Content is trying to convince us that larger, higher 
resolution screens and more channels of audio are what is important, 
tens of thousands of people are bringing the emotional impact of 
personal storytelling to digital media.  Which matters more?  You be the 
judge.

A Revolution in Knowledge Working

The same tools that are empowering individual digital storytellers are 
enabling a real revolution in business communication and knowledge work. 
Email has become a critical component of business infrastructure, but 
the tools that we're using are essentially unchanged from 20 years ago. 
Microsoft Outlook's shared calendars and an integrated email client are 
the only substantive features that Borland's Sidekick lacked in 1984.

Instant messaging, ubiquitous connectivity (SMS, two-way paging, etc), 
project blogging, k-logs, XML and other technologies are going to allow 
us to turn the computer from a replacement for the secretarial pool into 
a tool for collaborative knowledge working. While not developed for 
knowledge workers, it is obvious that the same tools and talents that 
are re-shaping the “consumer” media landscape will revolutionize 
business communication at the same time.
An Invitation

My background, combining technical skills with business and marketing 
experience in the development of consumer multimedia, Web-enabled 
applications, wireless and broadband applications is broad, but 
necessarily shallow, assuredly leaving me with blind spots.  But while 
opinionated, I'm not stubborn (my wife might disagree); I believe in 
claiming guilt and sharing credit.  So feel free to correct me when I'm 
wrong and open my eyes to the obvious things I miss.

If you're sitting closer to the front of the boat than I, please warn me 
if you see any rocks.  If you're steering, I hope you know where we're 
going.  Me?  I'm bending an oar in the middle of the boat, taking notes 
on where we've been and keeping an eye on the cooler to make sure we 
don't run out of beer.  It's going to be a fun trip, and we're all going 
to get soaked before we get where we're going.
- Jonathan

(My thanks to Karl for his editorial touch)