July 1, 2002
Clay Shirky: Half the World.
The Phrase establishes telecommunications access as a Big Problem and, by extension, validates the speaker as a Thinker-About-Big-Problems. But saying "Half the world has never made a phone call" makes no more sense than saying "My car goes from 0 to 60" or "It rained 15 inches."
MSNBC: Microsoft’s Freon project is an Xbox, with extras.
Though it is unclear whether such a product will ever be built, its core concept appears to have the backing of Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, who wrote in an internal memorandum in January that he was a “big fan” of a machine that would combine video services with gaming.
NY Times: Grudgingly, Music Labels Sell Their Songs Online.
Increasingly desperate to woo customers away from an Internet music piracy party that shows no signs of abating, several major record labels have resolved to make more music legally available for less money online — even if it means sacrificing lucrative CD sales.
MSNBC: Cyberlaw: Cybersmart or cybersilly?
The skeptics start by questioning the very existence of cyberspace, which they say is no more real than a “phone space” involving all the people on the telephone at a given time. They go on to argue that something happening online shouldn’t be treated any differently by the law than if it occurred on Main Street.
|
