Everyone's talking (day 229)

I feel I should write something positive today.  I've been on a vicarious rant about web 2.0 lacuna for a few days now.   So what could possibly be good about the overload of everyone talking at once on the internet?  Well for one we can stop being ignorant of the real level of discourse in the world.  This is a call for action and one that I think is being heard.  iTunesU is a great thing, and so is YouTube Edu.  The YouTube Screening Room is also great.  Vimeo is a breath of fresh creativity every time.  The fact that I don't have to pay for all this greatness sometimes feels wrong and not sustainable but the greatness itself is inspiring.  I believe books will be transformed, especially textbooks, and I'm looking forward to that but that's not really web 2.0.  I hope for a resurgence of newspapers in a new form but I'm not sure it will happen.  These days when I pick up a paper I realize how good it feels in my hands and how it has some pretty good content, well put together in a visually comfortable medium.  Sometimes the simple things can bring an exquisite state of unexpected relaxation.  I believe newspapers can be that in some kind of digital form on some kind of reader.  I hope they survive long enough to get there.  I think people might pay for good content again soon.  Perhaps if our data plans stop being so expensive.   I think open government platforms and applications are interesting initiatives and I welcome anything that can get us from Farmville to HereVille. 

A song for this post.