Reams (or is it megabytes? ) have been written on the drop in quality of content on the TOI, and it is impressively tiresome for me to go and dig up links for these again. If you landed on my blog accidentally, sorry. If you haven't, you in all likelihood have seen the 'raging' debate on the issue. At a micro level, I couldn't care less, honestly. I don't read the TOI, and they can shove their yellow rag exactly where you think I mean.
What is more interesting is the solution to this problem. The free-market-apologists say the market sorts itself out. Yes, it does, but quality suffers anyway. PBS isn't doing all that great in the US, and is in danger of being squeezed out of existence. The trigger being a dowdy-looking lesbian couple with a kid in Vermont on a show with an animated rabbit. But I digress. Fox News, of course,is going from strength to strength.
As a geek, I present the solution: the Internet! Voila! I, unlike Al Gore (sounds like an Kokanastha Brahmin Middle Eastern Terrorist outfit doesn't it? Al Gore, Al Kale... sorry) do not claim to have invented anything new. But the Internet gives a new medium for all of us to publish. Some of it is utter drivel, like this blog, and a few million other blogs which populate the blogosphere. Some of them are good. They even make money, via their Ad Sense, their Amazon referral codes in links, maybe even a PayPal account. I'll set up one. You pay me enough, I'll stop writing. I'll tell you how much is enough when we get there. Till that happens, keep the money flowing... I digress again. Sorry
An Indian short film at the Oscars. The Little Terrorist. You can watch it on WahIndia. Just under $2 to rent, under $5 to buy. Will this not at least make a bit of money for the film-maker, where earlier he would have had his documentary shown on DD on Saturday afternoon, with precisely 2.4 people to see it, and all interested people being unable to do so?
That should make us geeks and free-marketeers happy as can be. Interesting content, and no bowing to shareholders or LCDs. The HCF of "money for intelligence". Technology ensures a win-win. Again.
What is more interesting is the solution to this problem. The free-market-apologists say the market sorts itself out. Yes, it does, but quality suffers anyway. PBS isn't doing all that great in the US, and is in danger of being squeezed out of existence. The trigger being a dowdy-looking lesbian couple with a kid in Vermont on a show with an animated rabbit. But I digress. Fox News, of course,is going from strength to strength.
As a geek, I present the solution: the Internet! Voila! I, unlike Al Gore (sounds like an Kokanastha Brahmin Middle Eastern Terrorist outfit doesn't it? Al Gore, Al Kale... sorry) do not claim to have invented anything new. But the Internet gives a new medium for all of us to publish. Some of it is utter drivel, like this blog, and a few million other blogs which populate the blogosphere. Some of them are good. They even make money, via their Ad Sense, their Amazon referral codes in links, maybe even a PayPal account. I'll set up one. You pay me enough, I'll stop writing. I'll tell you how much is enough when we get there. Till that happens, keep the money flowing... I digress again. Sorry
An Indian short film at the Oscars. The Little Terrorist. You can watch it on WahIndia. Just under $2 to rent, under $5 to buy. Will this not at least make a bit of money for the film-maker, where earlier he would have had his documentary shown on DD on Saturday afternoon, with precisely 2.4 people to see it, and all interested people being unable to do so?
That should make us geeks and free-marketeers happy as can be. Interesting content, and no bowing to shareholders or LCDs. The HCF of "money for intelligence". Technology ensures a win-win. Again.
More information on long tail distribution (my favorite nightmare from network theory classes. Never thought it'd be so interesting in a real world, non-networking application)
3 comments:
The world's long tails are wagging, huh?
Ajju Maharaj Ki Jai !!
Love your articles.Keep writing...
Sumedha: True..some hope for those of us with offbeat interests,eh?
Nitin: Thanks. Do comment if you (dis)agree with anything here. I'm interested in knowing what you think of some of the stuff I write about.
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