jasona@sugar.hackercorp.com (Jason Asbahr) (06/01/91)
Let's get specific slowly...
Anyone seen the video show "Pump It Up" (I think it's a Fox network
program)...interesting! I saw an episode (if that's the right word)
about 6 months back or so...noticed it but forgot about it.
It's interesting to observe now because of the higher level of video
technology and the different sense of style apparent. The show focuses
on black musicians and black music videos...and it's all very slick...
perhaps an actualization of the style describes in many of the c-punk
novels. Naturally, since the show is on commercial broadcast TV, it
is strongly shaped by the Commercial Forces That Be to be inoffensive
in the same manner as mass production pop music is shaped on the FM
dial...but the introduced influence of black pop culture (which is
still not "mainstream" pop culture) can easily be seen.
I read an article in one of the news magazines (probably Newsweek) about
a year ago that described how pop fashion (at least in the US) has become
less influenced by Europe and more influenced by styles from ethnic
corners of the States. It is educational to observe how a (supposed)
subculture responds to the mass-produced "culture" fed to it by the
pop producers of the "overculture"...and with the magic power of the
dollar influencing the producing "overculture" to respond to demands it
otherwise would have ignored.
Technology influenced the "counterculture" of the 1960's more or less
indirectly...the introduction of the birth control pill, TV news
from around the world...largely passive. Now, however, power-giving
technology is cheap enough for the average consumer to buy and own.
Not just TVs -- now VCRs and camcorders. Computers aren't big and
unapproachable, communicating only with bank statements and bills --
now they sit on your desk, or in your lap. :) Beepers, cellular phones,
pocket tape recorders, CD-ROMS (though erasable opticals will be the ones
that really make the difference)...
This stuff is nifty enough by itself, but the REALLY interesting part
is what people *do* with it! These tools are power-giving in a very
real manner...it was TV broadcasts from the west that sold the East
Germans on capitalism...we all know about that incidence of LA police
brutality because of someone's camcorder...(Recently at the Bellaire
Police Station during a Metro React meeting, I saw a lone officer stabbed
to death by the people he had pulled over on the highway. I, and every
cop in the nation, saw it happen because of the newly installed camera
in his patrol car (and the informal network that suddenly sprung up to
pass copies along from district to district). Not only were the murders
caught because of the tape -- uncountable numbers of officers learned
from their comrade's recorded mistakes).
The net itself is an great example of the power of cheap technology.
I'm typing on my Atari ST at home, connected to Peter's unix-386 in
Sugarland...and this message will be passed everywhere from New York
to California...outwards to Europe, Australia, and New Zealand! (Ignoring
for the moment the university machines and the government project which
initially set it all up.) We use it so often that we are jaded...but
consider what it means for this to be the first century where it was
possible to one human to communicate so quickly with so many others
around the globe. And it's not just one human communicating, either.
(Obvious from the amount of news Peter's machines pull in each day!)
And then there's TELNET! :)
Hmm...I seem to have rambled just a bit. I guess it's time to rap it
up... :) The initial point was: Take time to watch an episode of
"Pump It Up". While not truly representative of subculture responses,
it does give a clue now and then...and the intro segment is cute!
The second point is: Take time to observe what happens at the fringes
where subcultures rub together. Notice the use of technology by these
subcultures (if you read c-punk, you are probably already interested in
the technology). Then again, if you are reading this, why do I have to
tell *you* to look for the technology? :)
The last point is: Look at the power available in the simple "toys"
around us! I think it's up to us to determine how much of what new
technology introduces is positive and how much is negative. I think it
is up to us to *use* our computers and nets and camcorders and
intelligence and intent to do something positive for the world.
I like what the GNU guys are doing. As I've said before, I'd like to
see something similar happen in education. Perhaps more people will
take advantage of the positive sides of technology...rather than just
complaining about the bad ones. (Imagine what could be done if a few
usenet flamewars could be tapped for energy! ;)
What do I want from you? Not much. Just some ideas, some criticism,
some direction-pointing, some experience...
Maybe a few volunteers. Anyone out there interested in writing decent
programs for kids to use on micros? Anyone equally interested in
copyrighting them and then giving them away for free to be passed along
from kid to kid to school to nation so everyone can get maximum
"positiveness" from it?
Though you may not get much money for your program initially (or ever!)
you will be loved by more than a few school teachers and their pupils!
More importantly, you will be doing something that will raise the
consciousness of everyone it touches (if carefully done)...and, by
nature of the distribution method, it will touch many people.
At the very least, I'm asking for your opinion. If you like the idea
and have suggestions, please tell me. If you think the idea stinks,
tell me, but be prepared to outline the exact *reasons* it stinks. :)
I'm going to be developing a number of lists...objectives, programs,
teachers, librarians, programmers. If you would like to be involved --
get involved! Write me and let me know.
--
-Jason Asbahr
jasona@sugar.hackercorp.com
jasona@nuchat.sccsi.com