In my very early teens at the end of the 80's / beginning of the 90's I heard about a book called Necromancer written by William Gibson. A groundbreaking futuristic novel set in a dark future where the word is controlled by massive corporations and Information is hard currency. The book had already been around for more than half a decade and had formed the futuristic subculture called "Cyber Punk", along with it, more novels, movies, music etc. etc. and not the least the mantra "Information want's to be free". I believed in it without quite understanding what it meant. I must have thought it was highly associated with copying and spreading computer software. To be quite honest, as the teenager I was I probably didn't think much of it. I just thought it sounded cool and futuristic. Now almost 20 years later I see the mantra got a much bigger meaning. To quote Obama:
“You’re coming of age in a 24/7 media environment that bombards us with all kinds of content and exposes us to all kinds of arguments, some of which don’t always rank all that high on the truth meter. With iPods and iPads and Xboxes and PlayStations, — none of which I know how to work — information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment, rather than a tool of empowerment, rather than the means of emancipation.”
At first glance... is this someone who is just a little frightened of new technology? That would probably be the conclusion of the teenage me. One detail got stuck in my brain though "a form of entertainment". Thinking of the guy at the party a few weeks ago who picked up his iPhone posting a comment on Facebook "Whoops, some red wine on the carpet, shit happens" after a glass was tipped over by mistake. Surely this kind of information would probably not be valuable in the world of Neuromancer. The same with the guy who who had scales hooked up to Twitter, automatically posting his weight to the public every single morning. Or the ranting comments about "Damn, it's Monday again, I feel like a coffee" on Facebook. The list is endless. Huge amounts of information being passed on creating a big block of noise. The percentage of valuable information is decreasing rapidly. I wonder if one day, you will have to go to some form of information Deli, where you can pure quality information. Or if there will be people experts in evaluating information, just like a jeweler. Will we talk about a new virtual form of pollution? Will there be processes to purify information, something like an oil refinery? Will you be able to get an information coach, someone helping you where to get the information suitable for you? What news to read, where to find the best quality information for your interest?
Maybe I should start a political party, like environmentalists, but in a virtual form?
