Revenge of the nerds • Hacker News Board

Re: Revenge of the nerds

#11

Post by dstorrs » Sat, Oct 03, 2009, 9:20 PM UTC

unalone wrote: post #5

pg wrote: post #4

He thinks the side he's on is the artists. Actually it's the old.

This. Artists are not the conservatives. They're the people embracing change and seeing what they can do with it. If anything, the artists will win even more now, because with luck there'll be a lower barrier to entry.

No luck required. Most of the big well known tech companies are devoted to making it easier for people to do their thing and/or share the results.

Google: Advertisements for your work.

Apple: Music and graphic production toolchains. The iPod / iPhone. The AppStore (for all its many, many flaws).

Yahoo Stores / Ebay / many others: Sell your stuff online.

Free or nearly free webhosting. Social networking, blogging, Twitter, etc.

This isn't accidental. People are social animals, and many of us are creative social animals; we want to share news and creations with our friends, and some of us want to make a buck doing it.

Re: Revenge of the nerds

#12

Post by sharpn » Sat, Oct 03, 2009, 9:24 PM UTC

brandnewlow wrote: post #7

RiderOfGiraffes wrote: post #2

What a vile and invidious piece. Equating mathematicians and nerds with thieves, and touting his inability to understand another area as a positive virtue. Sadly, it's those who are trained and experienced in writing who help to shape the minds and attitudes of others. The influence of the public is in the hands of those who comment, rather than those who help to create the world that enables their existence.

I agree with your take on his piece. But understand that there are many people out there who have seen livelihoods and futures dashed by the rapid commodification of content. These people are afraid, angry, and looking for someone to blame.

Yes, there are. But if your living is content, then ignoring developments in your industry is a failure to engage in your career - and if you blithely blame others for the result of that failing in print then you diminish your authority with your readership further.

Re: Revenge of the nerds

#13

Post by unalone » Sat, Oct 03, 2009, 9:36 PM UTC

dstorrs wrote: post #11

unalone wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This. Artists are not the conservatives. They're the people embracing change and seeing what they can do with it. If anything, the artists will win even more now, because with luck there'll be a lower barrier to entry.

No luck required. Most of the big well known tech companies are devoted to making it easier for people to do their thing and/or share the results. Google: Advertisements for your work. Apple: Music and graphic production toolchains. The iPod / iPhone. The AppStore (for all its many, many flaws). Yahoo Stores / Ebay / many others: Sell your stuff online. Free or nearly free webhosting. Social networking, blogging, Twi…

I was thinking more about luck regarding people's abilities to make a living with their work. So far nothing exists to easily facilitate an artist's growth into profitability: That first step is still the scariest for that reason.

Re: Revenge of the nerds

#14

Post by hegemonicon » Sat, Oct 03, 2009, 9:39 PM UTC

This is one of the worst things I've read in recent memory. Nerds rising at the expense of artists? Plotting a world where writers and musicians are at the mercy of mathematicians? Even the most cursory examination of this piece shows that it's not connected to anything resembling reality. Since when did creative types run the show? Since when were 'footballers' (athletes) relegated to the sidelines? What fantasy world has this guy been living in?

Re: Revenge of the nerds

#15

Post by unalone » Sat, Oct 03, 2009, 9:39 PM UTC

cmars232 wrote: post #10

F kin hipsters had it coming. lol, jk

This isn't at all about hipsters. Most "hipsters" aren't artists. Most of the artists that find themselves in the hipster subset aren't hipsters so much as they are the people who set the definition for hipster.

That aside, your comment was lame for other reasons too.

Re: Revenge of the nerds

#16

Post by jodrellblank » Sat, Oct 03, 2009, 9:39 PM UTC

Revenge? Revenge for what?

Or, more pointedly, what have you done that you're afraid nerds would want revenge on you for?

Re: Revenge of the nerds

#17

Post by brandnewlow » Sat, Oct 03, 2009, 9:44 PM UTC

sharpn wrote: post #12

brandnewlow wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with your take on his piece. But understand that there are many people out there who have seen livelihoods and futures dashed by the rapid commodification of content. These people are afraid, angry, and looking for someone to blame.

Yes, there are. But if your living is content, then ignoring developments in your industry is a failure to engage in your career - and if you blithely blame others for the result of that failing in print then you diminish your authority with your readership further.

We're on the same page here, but realistically, what is he to do? What specific advice would you give someone like him beyond "start a blog"?

It sounds like he spent his career typing down his thoughts on the issues of the day and handing them off to an editor to publish. He's not in a good place.

Re: Revenge of the nerds

#18

Post by albertsun » Sat, Oct 03, 2009, 9:54 PM UTC

Wait... this was satire right?

Re: Revenge of the nerds

#19

Post by microcentury » Sat, Oct 03, 2009, 10:12 PM UTC

This kind of over-simplification of complex issues really doesn't do anyone any favours, even if it's supposed to be satire or humour (which I can't be sure about in this case). Technology has _always_ provided a platform for art - where do you think those guitars come from, or the paper you write on, or the paints that people used to paint on cave walls if we want to go back as far as we can?

People develop new things that can be used in various ways. Some of the ways are prosaic, some are creative. Someone develops a computer, and one person uses it to solve an equation, another uses it to create a digital painting - both of these things are both technical and creative. And as technology develops, it becomes more and more accessible to more and more people. I can use a piece of paper without understnading how it was made, just as I can use Photoshop without understanding the mathematics of its underlying algorithms.

This piece seems to spring from the same the-internet-is-killing-journalism mentality that has become more prevalent in recent times. Traditional journalism would be on much safer ground if it wasn't producing this kind of rubbish in a mainstream international broadsheet.

Re: Revenge of the nerds

#20

Post by selven » Sat, Oct 03, 2009, 10:12 PM UTC

From equating downloading to stealing to praising Lord Mandelson and his guilty-before-proven-innocent approach to copyright to the anti-technology sentiment, this seems like an article written by the RIAA (or local equivalent).