The Death Of The Typewriter

The typewriter has  been reported to be put out of production.  The last company to produce the typewriter is Godrej and Boyce it has shut-down its production in its plant in Mumbai, India.  Gawker reports that the typewriter is still being produced in China, Japan and Indonesia.  Whichever the real story is, it’s apparent that the typewriter will eventually become obsolete, which is a shame. The typewriter used to be a mandatory device in the office. Now, it has been replaced by the modern keyboard.

However there is nothing like the experience one gains by writing on a  typewriter, it’s iconic!

As a writer, the notion that the typewriter may not be around much longer is unsettling. As I have aged, the typewriter has always been the object a writer could never let go of. It reminds me of Cronenberg’s visual interpretation of William S. Burroughs ”Naked Lunch.”   William Lee, has nothing but his typewriter, as he goes through fits of hallucinations, hysteria, he returns to the typewriter to outline what he has been experiencing. At one point in the film, the typewriter comes to life.  It is depicted a s a breathing, living entity Therefore, it is an extension of the writer. So with the death of the typewriter indirectly causes the death of the writer. However, we know that is not true, but is a huge blow to traditional writers.

Typewriters may becoming obsolete, lets just not allow written word to become nonexistent as well.

Crowd-Sourcing, What Are You?

Crowd-sourcing is a tool that businesses use to gain support through the community by outsourcing a detailed list of instructions to a specific demographic. Whether it is to allow members of a community to be more proactive by detailing problems associated with their neighborhood. Or the simple pleasures of surprising everyone in a public space by performing a choreographed dance. Crowd-sourcing has various applications and can be beneficial if used correctly.

This term was coined by Jeffrey Howe, it established that the concept of crowdsourcing depends essentially on the fact that because it is an open call to an undefined group of people, it gathers those who are most fit to perform tasks, solve complex problems and contribute with the most relevant and fresh ideas.

It has diminished the gap between the professional and the amateur, by doing so, a new collective consciousness is formed. By outsourcing an idea via the web, a community can embrace the idea and thus the creative process begins.

My crowd-sourcing idea would be for the traveler on the road, especially if doing a cross-country trip. It would link with google navigation and provide the address to cheap places to stay the night (motels, campgrounds, etc.) It would rank them according to their quality based on reviews by others who have stayed there. It would also provide the traveler where to eat according to affordability and quality. Additionally it would describe sights along the way, depending on the route you are taking.  It would also warn you of places to avoid.  I believe this application would be very helpful to those who are planning a long voyage and who are basically traveling blind. I know from experience that many will just choose the first thing they see and are most likely bypassing an excellent place to stay or eat.

Ethicality Reality

Ethics?

Do most of you know what this consists of in the journalistic profession? According to who you talk to, ethics could mean entirely different things.  Michael Huber for example, will not discuss his car troubles with Randy, a man who could easily aide in his dilemma. But his ethical conscious disallows him to ask for this hand-out; it could be perceived the wrong way.  On the other side of the spectrum, you have a rolling stones reporter, who will willingly smoke weed and drink beer on Lil Wayne’s tab.

Is this ethical?

In my opinion, ethics is a slippery slope.  On one hand, you can’t sacrifice your professionalism, but in another hand, you have to maintain some sense of sustainability. In regards to Michael Huber’s situation, I would have asked Randy, it should not matter, if he works with him. If you have established a relationship, you should be able to take advantage of it. It is simple networking. No one in their right mind will see that as an act of diminished ethical integrity.

The reporter at Rolling Stone should be able to take advantage of the high life. No pun intended. As long as it doesn’t persuade his article about the artist, it shouldn’t matter if he parties with Lil Wayne for free.

In summary, as long as these advantages do not persuade you to tweak an article in their favor, you still have maintained an ethical conscience.

Are You Willing to Pay?

Newspapers have transcended their marketing strategies from the traditional” paper boy” format to a pay-wall, established online. New York Times recently put up a pay-wall much to the dismay of its’ online subscribers.  Will it work? Will they still get the same number of readers? We don’t know. If any newspaper can make headway with this strategy it might as well be the prestigious New York Times.

But let’s be realistic, the online community is fundamentally built on the principle of getting information and media for free. Ever since burning cd’s I have not paid a single cent for music. And that was in 1999. Music programs get shut down, but new ones emerge. For example, Napster became popular, it was shut down, so the music pirates and myself alike migrated to Scour Exchange. Once that was shut-down, Audio galaxy was the next option. While many, virus vulnerable programs came to being, Limewire, Frostwore, Bear Exchange, etc. I didn’t touch them.  Instead I would get audio tracks from dogpile.com. But now there are torrents, a safer way to download software, music, movies, television shows, e-books.

My point is: if you prevent the online community to get free media, they will find a way around it, just as I did.

However, there will be those who fall victim to the pay wall, I suspect the majority of them will be older. The older generations aren’t fully on board with getting information free, they are still hung up on the idea that everything must be paid for.

But do they make up the majority of the online community; NO.

A good example is the attempted establishment of the NYT tweet. However, this was shut down, but that is just the beginning.  A more secure way of re-sending this information must be established, perhaps a forum, where all the New York Times articles will be available.

In addition, to the prospect of establishing a forum to retrieve articles for free.There still are other new sources exporting the same news as the New York Times. Will the articles be written as eloquently? It’s debatable. But will you receive the same information, YES.  That gets to my second point: as long as there are other news agencies exporting news for free, there is no immediate need to pay.

What do you think?