Hollywood’s Role in Innovation … and SOPA
techcrunch.com
techcrunch.com
First of all, Hollywood is not the entity responsible for this inspiration. The source of inspiration are artists who came up with that stuff, not Hollywood. As a matter of fact, almost all of the stuff you see in Hollywood sci-fi movies is taken from one or more books. Whether the desire to innovate is something innate or not is a discussion beyond the scope of a simple comment. But the influence of Hollywood as such is greatly exaggerated: Hollywood does not equate art.
Second, a lot of true innovations were done quite differently from what you see in Hollywood movies. Ironically, the article points this out: "Captain Kirk’s communicators didn’t receive emails, browse the web, or play music", unlike iPhone. With all due respect, Gene Rodenberry's contribution to our geek subculture is undeniably substantial, but he's far from being a Jules Verne.
Third, the whole thing about the music being "the first social network" is crap. Social networks form around personal tastes -- among other things -- but that doesn't make music itself a social network.
One thing the article got right is that Hollywood and Silicon Valley have a "market" relationship: one produces the tech the other needs. Now that's a "symbiotic relationship" I can believe in.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: we need to stop thinking of "Hollywood" as a monolothic, homogenous organization bent on a single agenda. We do ourselves a great disservice to view the entertainment and media industries in those terms. In truth, "Hollywood" comprises thousands of companies, millions of individuals, and just as many agendas, business models, goals, and products. We can no more speak of "Hollywood" as having a single org structure or driving agenda than we can speak of "America" as a unified political and cultural mass. Just as not all Americans wanted to invade Iraq, not everyone in Los Angeles and New York wanted to push SOPA and PIPA legislation. (In fact, I'd bet that a majority in the entertainment business are personally opposed to SOPA and PIPA; I know I am).
Within Hollywood, there is a large and growing segment of content creators, producers, actors, writers, and directors who'd just as soon develop for technology ecosystems as they would for major movie studios and TV networks. And I believe technology firms are leading the way. Netflix is attempting to develop original programming. Microsoft is rumored to be doing the same. Apple's iTunes and App Stores represent entertainment ecosystems just waiting to be filled with direct-to-consumer content from Hollywood's best creators and production companies. Kickstarter offers an appealing platform for marketing and funding independent content. A major shift in production and consumption of entertainment isn't going to happen overnight; nor will it progress in linear fashion. More likely than not, a few big breakthroughs will inspire others. I am very optimistic that, sometime within the next two years, we'll be speaking of the first "Hollywood" series released directly -- and successfully -- to a tech platform. Once that happens, the floodgates will open in earnest. And, perhaps selfishly speaking, I am crossing my fingers that the new season of direct-to-Netflix "Arrested Development" finds a bigger audience than it did on TV.
"Try remembering when you heard a special song for the first time. You won’t be able to, but you’ll sure remember the circumstances—the point being that the art is essential for technology innovation. You won’t be able to, but you’ll sure remember the circumstances—the point being that the art is essential for technology innovation"
First, I don't even slightly understand the inference in the last sentence. Second, don't the circumstances include the time?