Richard MacManus of Read/WriteWeb directs our attention to “The Future of Media”, an interesting video produced by Italian internet consulting company Casaleggio Associati that attempts to predict the future of media over the next 40-50 years. The video runs through a scenario where Google buys Microsoft, Amazon buys Yahoo, Second Life replicates reality and then all of the companies ultimately become the new company Prometeus, making virtual life the biggest market on the planet.
Oh and in 2020 Lawrence Lessig becomes the new US Secretary of Justice and declares copyright to be illegal.
UPDATE: Davide Casaleggio of Casaleggio Associati would like to hear from you guys about what you think the future of media will be like.
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Hi everyone,
I’d love to get some comments from you on what YOU think the future of Media will be!
hope to read something from you.
ciao,
Davide.
This Is a fascinating film to analyze! It certainly makes a slick commercial for Google, Amazon, and Second Life, but here’s a few perspectives that will perhaps make you think differently about the techno-hype and digital-based futures:
First off, US culture can already be considered a failed experiment in virtual reality. Its population and subsequently many others are “already soaking in it” and have become so disconnected from environmental realities that it continues to create a number of unstable global circumstances, if not already 4th world war scenarios.
What many of us would call a projected “dystopian” technopoly future in the film assumes that a US dominated economy could hold for… 5 more decades?!!! Are there even any signs that its current course could last for even one?!
Basic resources to sustain life such as water and agricultural necessities will under sane development policies require far different priorities than realizing some silicon valley elite’s fantasy for holodecks.
And, it should be mentioned there seem to be a number of people who have either misread Philip K. Dick’s genius or simply plundering it for a number of sadly all-too-real venture capital opportunities. Think it was in “Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch”, where “2nd life” was a DESPERATE attempt for a labor colony on Mars to somehow find an escape (and/or reconnection) from an unbearable life away from earth. The fact that people spent their wages to fill their barbie-like doll houses with model objects (to remind them of home) was an hilarious joke about our consumer/virtual society, not a concept to pursue as future social engineering. But there ya go, some idiots from the Military Entertainment Complex with too much money at their disposal have attempted to make it the next shopping mall.
The “Future of Media†YouTube spot is pure propaganda. Fake science. Pseudo-Think Tank. Don’t believe the hype. Simply reading their “about†page shows their true intentions of making money trying to tell corporations how to make money. This video is pure PR crap, hoping to lure in the cash. No mention of government. No mention of how to sustain the technology. No mention of the millions who will probably never have net access. No mention of those billions who don’t use Second Life and probably never will.
The hubris of the techno-elite, and their fetishizing of anything that advances the philosophy that all tech is good for humanity, and the bottom line, disgusts me. I think they’re missing the underlying theme in all of PKD’s fiction: technology cannot be trusted…
If anyone would jam this YouTube vid, they should put the text below as the subtitles:
Ca$aleggio A$$ociati
The mission of Casaleggio Associati (www.casaleggio.it) is to development strategic Net consulting for companies through the specific skills of our associates, affiliates and partners and to produce reports on the digital economy. The company’s objective is to develop a Net culture in Italy through original studies, consulting and articles, books, newsletters, seminars and through the creation of brainstorming and focus groups.
Casaleggio Associati defines the structure, purpose and implementation path for sustainable and profitable business models for the use of the Net and identifies web marketing strategies through the study of the target of reference, the message to be conveyed and the channels to be used.
Casaleggio Associati assists companies in the development of the Intranet that allows each individual company user to access the processes and information that regard them in a profiled mode through a dedicated portal.
Finally, it identifies Social Networking techniques for companies that operate in the “relationship business†(such as CRM, sales processes, Intranet marketing, etc.) and develops social network applications for the analysis, management and direction of relationships.
Watched it now a couple of times, and it was also very informative to take a peek about what people on various sites are saying ( 441 blog links as i write this) unfortunately not many with much sociological prognosis… and it doesn”t seem to provoke people as it probably should…i.e.the dangers of media consolidation.
For people who are more curious and/or disturbed by what this future scenario might imply… take a look at this not-so-futuristic clip from the UK :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJTLL1UjvfU
Of course, the clip from Casaleggio Assoc. attempts to show some “strangely positive” outcomes in the new environments, you could say “The future of media” seems to employ the usual consumer marketing oblivion to what is actually occuring in our society, while the 2nd is lacking in any creative alternatives for where this shit’s gonna go…
Davide, if you’re reading this, and for anyone seriously interested in social-machine interfacing, new media environments, etc. this new book is highly recommended: Devices of the Soul, Battling for Our Selves in an Age of Machines, Steve Talbott, O’Reilly, 2007. It,s got some mind-blowing deconstructions regarding the reductionist computer landscapes, and inspiring thoughts for how to save our asses …
And if anybody comes up with a third-mind film to illuminate us, keep us posted!
Hi pb podovic,
thank you for the tips on readings, It’s on my next book shopping list. I also have my doubts on trusted computing, and regarding intercepts, well I’m not sure if you know the last months Italian news, but we know what can happen if left in the wrong hands.
Our intent with this video was to try to see what was happening in the Media industry. Some people might not have noticed but TVs, Newspapers, Radio, the Music and Film Industry are changing rapidly. Some technologies are helping like broadband, epaper, … but something else is changing too: everyone want’s to participate in creating information and entertainment, and the good news is that they can. This means that we are living now the revolution in the media industry. Understanding it will help us all to create a better future, maybe.
ciao to all,
Davide.