> So, in the future perhaps wealthy individuals (or groups of less
> wealthy individuals combining their resources) will pay 'creative
> workers' to create something specifically for their pleasures.
> There's absolutely no commercial value to this; it's sheer
> hedonistic value. I want to be entertained. You have the
> capability to entertain me. I'll pay you to do it.
Sounds like fun to me. I'd like to be in both camps.
> 2) As always creative workers who care about creating and get a
> high from it will create.
There are an awful lot of artists who will just create stuff because they
*need* to, not because it' a good living. I'm vehemently opposed to art
being a commodity on principle, but you've had that rant from me before...
> Their work will be infinitely
> reproduced via computer networks. The 'good work' will float to
> the top--via word of mouth--and the 'lousy work' will crash and
> burn ('good' and 'lousy', of course, are subjective). There won't
> be a profit motive driving the production and consumption, so the
> audiences will be making choices based on what they value, not
> having their choices limited by what makes money for the
> publishers or producers.
I'd REALLY like to build into all info-browsers used on the net (irc
clients, mud clients, HTML browsers, news readers, mail readers, etc) a
"donate moolah" feature, such that if I particularly appreciated a
particular [thing] I could donate a particular [amount] to that particular
[producer of said thing].
Fer eggsample, if I thought Taylor wrote a particularly enlightening piece,
I could donate some small amount of cash, say 1/10 of a cent. Or if it
really affected me, I'd donate 2 cents. and if someone wrote something
which really changed my life, I'd throw a dollar at them. Or more. You
could have a default donation of some small portion of a cent, or up the
ante if it really impressed you.
Of course, this would mean having a bank account number built into
everything you produced, but I don't have a problem with that if the
account isn't directly attributed to me. So long as I have control over it,
I'm not fussed.
> But in a post-IP world the patron is not commissioning the work
> so it can become "property" (that implies a material value to the
> work). The patron is commissioning the work for the sheer
> pleasure of having a skilled craftsperson create something
> specifically for them, much as you would have someone customize
> your car to your specific preferences.
This entire discussion is, of course, taking as read that there will still
be artists creating material objects....
> Hmmmm, there may be no profit in creative work but this might
> result in making reviews really profitable. Imagine: you don't
> have time to surf the net for hours a day trying to find the kind
> of creative work you like. So you subscribe to a reviewing
> service that provides you with capsule reviews and addresses of
> works you will like.
The "net-nanny" type of filter programs may well result in paid-filter
organisations: we'll sell you our customised filters. the Official Roman
Catholic Church Filter. A Cyber-Index, as it were.
> > Um, cuz they're the only ones with the money to give? I mean,
> > more has changed since the Renaissance than just technology.
> > The distribution of wealth is certainly different, right?
>
> ??? There is a much bigger percentage of wealthy individuals now
> than ever before, so I can't see how your argument holds.
There is nowhere near as great a disparity between rich and poor as there
was during mediaeval times, for instance.
> I think you have a misconceived view of patronage. There's
> nothing altruistic about it, because patrons fund artists for
> *private* consumption, not public consumption. A patron
> commissions an artist to please the personal tastes of the
> patron. Renaissance patrons were never funding artists to create
> works for the public;
Except in Venice, and perhaps Florence.
I'd write a LOT more, as this is a topic I'm -intensely- interested in, but
it's nearly one am, and I have to be up at 8am. Busy day tomorrow, I have
two appointments with a couple of people who want to invest about $50,000
each in an ISP I'm setting up. Erk. Dwayne Joins The Real world.
Wish me luck.
Dwayne.
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