-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Simon Spero wrote something like:
Micropayments allow each author to be her own wire-service. _This_ will be the triggering point for the new media. These services can be combined into edited newspapers without the editors needing to set up complex traditional arrangements (I'd pay for John Young's Daily News :)
Freedom of the Press belongs to those who own the vending machines
There are three things necessary for the New Media Paradigm to take full effect: 1. Many-to-many connectivity. Check. (infinite bandwidth blah blah..) 2. Micropayments. Coming soon to an electronic wallet near you. (Ecash(tm), bearer bonds, cheap tokens, coupons, blah blah..) 3. New ratings systems. Um... Well, it would be easy to do but few people seem to have really caught on to it yet. I remain hopeful that it will come to pass as millions more come on-line and cetera. I suppose having a certificate standard and a public key authentication infrastructure might help, although I secretly suspect that the good ole' Web O Trust would be sufficient for this purpose. (After all, you only really take ratings from people you know, right? Or people who have a "reviews" column in your local newspaper.) Of course, despite all of our fond techno-utopian daydreams, there is no telling whether this New Media Paradigm with its absolute freedom-of-the-press and its free (or at least cheap) presses is going to be good or bad for the current pop-culture millionaires and the ugly tripe that they peddle. Bryce #include <stddisclaimer.h> /* Not speaking for anyone else at this time. */ - ----- BEGIN GOODTIMES VIRUS INNOCULATION ----- Once you have read and understood this .sig, you are immune to the Good Times virus. Please help spread this innoculation! - ----- END GOODTIMES VIRUS INNOCULATION ----- -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2i Comment: Auto-signed under Unix with 'BAP' Easy-PGP v1.1b2 iQB1AwUBMb7UQkjbHy8sKZitAQGg/wL/SDjAXkMH+pwwMIUONtXaWxDAMjNose0R BCfQxFhTMqUUl1JwbYaX61X/L3ckm9/83+3uuFNeT/x/dsKcmIhVmalTBobdEWPV XbvI/fsokUY0lahjmbgcsR0EmriS+F5L =+T9Y -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----