gilmor response

so i am confused by gilmor's statement about the drawbacks of rss feeds on blogs--they destroy their idiosyncracy how again? confusion.

all the "original" input i have on disruptive media is made less original by the fact that i'm drawing from an article in wired magazine i read months ago, where they interviewed the guy who's responsible for bittorrent (who's apparently a mildly autistic genius). the thing that stuck with me from the article was that not only is there an availability of television shows on the internet via bittorrent, but you can obtain a specific clip from a specific show, rather than get the whole episode. that was a really haphazard way of explaining it. attempt at clarification/simplification: bittorrent (and other file-sharing programs) are threatening television networks, who can't gauge how popular shows are because they can't measure the numbers of people tuning in (cable specifically, since satellite tv doesn't measure ratings or anything like that). people can just get the same programs off of the internet, and can watch them at their own leisure. sometimes, they don't even need the whole program--all they need is a clip.

i'm doing an exceptionally poor job of explaining this. ok. the example they give in the article is of jon stewart and his infamous insult of one of the hosts of CNN's crossfire, who he called a dick. obviously, only the people who were watching the show witnessed it happen. a few years ago, everyone else would only get this information via word of mouth and how the media chose to explain/present it. maybe someone taped it, but who the hell tapes crossfire? now, however, they can get the real thing via p2p networks on the web. plus, crossfire's viewership isn't exceptionally high. the distribution of this clip on the internet gave millions of people the chance to see it for themselves.

i'm getting the feeling i got way off track here. anyway, disruptive media! p2p networks vs. television. you can get your tv when you want it as long as you have a hi-speed connection and a reliable internet source. obviously the choice for people lacking in tivo.

edit: found the article! you can listen to clive thompson articulate this all better than i (and then some). it's interesting anyway.