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Feb 16 2012
- 1. The medium is the message
- 2. Clay
- 3. Papyrus
- 4. Parchment
- 5. Paper
- 6. Digital
- 7. Differences Why digital communication is different: • Device agnostic • Networked • Instantaneous • Zero cost (almost) • Indestructible
- 10. Behaviour change
- 11. It’s changing us We are all digital collaborators now
Editor's Notes
- This is a quote that many of you will recognise from that great disruptive thinker, Marshall Macluhan. I want to talk about how a new medium – the digital platform - is changing who we are. Interaction: Who’s published a book this year? Who’s published something online?Let’s be under no illusion. There’s a really powerful thing happening here at NESTA and everywhere around the world, right now.We are in the middle of one of the greatest revolutions in communication technology.I want to take you back 3000 years to show you how far this technology has come, and how our behaviour has changed as a result.
- This is theiPad of the Bronze Age: it’s the first ever mobile platform. This particular is the Epic of Gilgamesh from the great library of Ashurbanipal in ancient Nineveh.The technology was a massive leap forward – previously you had to be in front of a wall or a monument to read text.It was also easy to mark and once it dried, it was fairly permanent. But it had a very limited network. It was owned by the King and probably had a readership of less than 10 people.It’s also heavy and fragile so even if there was political will to increase the network, it wouldn’t travel well.
- Then we invented Papyrus – the next generation mobile platform – much thinner, and lighter than clay. This also had a limited network. The great library at Alexandria, before it was destroyed, held a million rolls of papyrus, but only a select number of scholars were allowed access to them. The word papyrus means – “that which belongs to Pharaoh”. It also tended to crack, so it had to be rolled instead of folded, which restricted the size of the volumes. And because it was made of plant material, it tended to rot.
- Then we invented a new technology, parchment – sheets of material made of animal skin, which could be folded into a codex, making it extremely space efficient. It was also extremely weather resistant, which meant that countries with wet climates could start building their own libraries.But it has one major drawback – it was expensive to produce. You needed your own herd of cattle to produce even a modest illuminated Bible. This was another technology that was part of a closed network – the books were designed by the few for the few.
- Paper. It’s brilliant. It’s so good that 500 yrs since it was first mass produced in the West, I’m holding a piece of it now to give a talk on digital communication. When this platform met with the right technology – the printing press – we had an explosion of book production. The network increased exponentially. It created a world of readers. Suddenly the state, and the church, didn’t control how things were read.It is without doubt the best technology ever invented for storing and exchanging ideas.Until now…
- Now we have a new type of communication technology altogether.
- Here are some of the reasons why I think digital comms is different, and why it is giving us more power to disrupt and to innovate.There’s very little friction when it comes to moving information from one device to another. Information no longer sits in national silos, no more state-controlled libraries at Alexandria or Ashurbanipal..A message can travel round the world in secondsThe price barrier to entry has come down to almost zero. It will not break, or rot or burn. Once information is uploaded to the cloud, it can last forever.
- All these different characteristics mean that we are living in a different information environment.The old models of top-down information production and delivery are being reorganised.Now we are not just a world of readers, but a world of writers too.And new platforms are emerging that are enabling a revolution in how we communicate – how we produce knowledge and how we disseminate it.
- Most people think of the dominant players when they think of this revolution.They’re right, in a way. They’ve all taught us the fundamentals of this new tech – sharing, feedback loop, contribution, collaboration. Twitter has challenged law. Blogs have challenged governments. But we’re still a long way from a totally democratic web – these platforms are information monopolies which control our data, and so control us. I think the most innovative platforms share what Clay Shirky says: They allow disparate groups to quickly synchronise behaviour.
- And it’s other platforms that are really changing the way we behave. New knowledge sharing platformsNew campaigning platformsNew crisis response platformsNew giving platformsNew funding platformsNew learning platformsThis new technology is not just revolutionising the way we store and exchange ideas, it’s also changing the way we interact with each other. 3000 yrs ago 1 person controlled access to the world’s knowledge. Now all have access to it, and we can all help to shape it.
- We are all digital collaborators now.