The Day Music Died

1) Throughout the article, “The day the music died,” by Andrew Keen he describes
several consequences that are potential outcomes of “Web 2.0.” He ultimately
thinks that these consequences are going to have a negative impact on our
society. He says that an Atlantic Monthly writer Marshall Poe said that, “The
Internet is a huge moral hazard for people in general and it is a huge economic
hazard for the serious providers of content. “Keen then goes on to further
describe some of the situations that are hazardous. One of the things he talks
about is digital piracy and the fast growing trend of free movie downloads which
are destroying revenues from box-office films and DVD sales. People are able to
obtain bootleg copies of new releases which enable them to remain in their homes
instead of going out to the movies and buying tickets. Also, many movies are
available online which becomes extremely convenient as well. This new trend has
causes many major production companies such as Disney and Warner Brothers to cut
the number of films they produce and lay off hundreds of jobs due to the lack of
revenue they have been receiving the last few years. This also carries over to
movie stores such as Blockbuster, who are also feeling the effect of this new
development. Online options such as Netflix have become so successful and are
obviously a huge threat to Blockbusters and many local video stores that can no
longer compete. I agree with Keen to an extent on this one because movie sales
and these movie stores are important, especially to production companies and
their workers that are feeling the effects. It is not fair to them that their
hard earned work is being exposed on the Internet for free, yet at the same time
I do not think people will feel strongly enough to stop downloading or watching
bootleg movies and instead get in their car, go to the nearest theatre or store
and spend more money on tickets or the movie, when they can just remain in their
homes and save.
Another institution that is on the decline is traditional newspapers and
magazines. Newspapers across the U.S. are feeling the effects of the Internet
more each day as sales are dropping quickly. Many people have stopped purchasing
subscriptions and the daily paper when they can easily go online and access
their news and for free. This also has a major effect on advertising. Again,
jobs are being lost and this time on a much larger scale. Keen uses the example
of Craigslist, and explains that they require only 22 workers to keep the
website running. This has had a huge impact on the classifieds in newspapers and
the workers who are employed there. I also agree with Keen as he goes on to
explain that the, “Web 2.0 economy is not creating jobs to replace those it
destroys.” This ultimately creates a huge problem for the economy as jobs are
just disappearing with the new inventions of the Internet. While I agree with his arguments, I also think that there is no way to put a stop to this. Newspapers have always been a huge industry but people like reading their news online better and I think that the future holds little hope for newspapers and their employees.
Another institution that Keen sees as threatened are bookstores across America. The article reports that the New York Times has figured that 2,500 independent bookstores have already gone out of business since 1990, and I see that number increasing within the next few years. While many bookstores are going out of business, Amazon.com is experiencing a steady increase in profits. Consumers will no longer be able to have that relationship with their local bookstore they once had and will rather be forced to purchase books off of the Internet. As said in the article, people enjoy going to bookstores and speaking with others, asking the workers what books are new or good and forming real relationships with these people as opposed to shopping online which merely shows you other books you may be interested in based on the one you are purchasing. Amazon.com has also released their new product, the Kindle an e-book reader, which enables you to download full books and read them on this handheld device. While I think it may take a while for bookstores to close down and for people to get used to reading books from a device, it may be the future for books.

2) After speaking about some of these grave consequences that will arise as a result of the Web 2.0, Keen compares this to Sir Thomas Moore’s novel Utopia and in particular a quote, “sheep are devouring men,” which back then referred to the laws that banned the peasantry from the fields and ultimately created an underclass. Keen says today it is like the computers are consuming journalists and it is having the same effect, leaving them without jobs and without income. I think that Keen is trying to say that the majority is being hurt by the advances of the web, while a very lucky few are making the money. He is saying that the journalists who write for newspapers are losing their jobs, careers and passion in an instant and the people who created Google, and YouTube are making millions and not really doing much for it. The big problem is that in losing these jobs, there are no replacement jobs available for them.