Re: <nettime> The banality of blogging

[Mikael Pawlo <mikael@pawlo.com>]

On 8/14/07, Benjamin Geer <benjamin.geer@gmail.com > wrote:

> So did the printing press when it was invented.  But as far as I know,
> nobody has suggested that texts published using printing presses are
> inherently... anything.
(---)

Even though this argument seems very appealing at first, I think it might
be over-simplifing to some extent. If you look at technological
transitions in the past they seem to happen in a more complex fashion
than suggested, and affect the content more than just being a new forum
for publication. It may also effect how ideas are not only expressed but
also developed and formed.

Many great thinkers have expressed this in different ways, and I am
really a simpleton when it comes to these matters, but still I would like
to take this opportunity to highly recommend James O'Donnell's excellent
book Avatars of the world. This was a great eye-opener to me, even though
I can not judge the academic value of the work. Perhaps Mr Stalder might
fill in here? The book is a bit dated today and does not provide the
reader with many insights when it comes to Web 2.0, social networking,
blogging, Facebook and so forth, but as a method for comparative studies
of technology change (did anyone say paradigm!?) this is a great start and
tool. It should be required reading for all policy czars, but is obviously
not, when you look at technology regulation...

James O'Donnell is a Georgetown scholar:
http://www9.georgetown.edu/faculty/jod/

Aggregated reviews of the book:
http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog/ODOAVA.html?show=reviews

Best regards,

Mikael Pawlo

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