In the digital economy, we'll soon all be working for free

renren22

Very interesting article.Being a freelancer some points she raises ring true.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jun/05/digital-economy-work-for-free

ambershee

That article was horrific and whatever argument she was trying to get across was lost in directionless rambling.

praetus

what the hell was that article even about? Every paragraph felt like it was jumping topics with little to no transition much less a narrative. Holy shit. I read through it and I have to agree with Ambershee. Whatever point she was trying to make was absolutely lost in her ramblings.

ikken

> But there is another group partly responsible for the parlous state in which we find ourselves: the digi-heads of Silicon Valley who told us everything could be kinda free. And easy.

this is 100x more ironic when posted on a CG themed message board, I would cackle my ass off at the look on her face if she ever saw autodesk retail pricing.

> The creative industries, first music and now journalism, saw these changes coming too late. My children have been brought up in a world where they have to compete with those who will work for free.

are her children working for amanda palmer

Richard Kain

This is a little wacky. We're transitioning into a world where a lot of products no longer have a purely physical presence. That doesn't mean that anyone is going to be working for free. You just have to think about yourself as providing a service, instead of producing a product. People are quite willing to pay for service. That is a concept that mankind grasped thousands of years ago.

I go into work everyday and work on an enterprise application. They arne't paying for the enterprise applicatoin. They're paying me for the service I provide in helping to develop it. The product that actually gets produced is software. It can be copied or what have you. It is in many ways an intangible product. But the technical expertise I bring to its development is valuable to the company who pays me my daily wage.

Torch

Oh great, more 'The end is Nigh!' gobbledeegook. Howcome we never get any positive articles XO

I'm looking forward to the 'Valve hires 50 employees' type threads

Ace-Angel

Sooo, does this mean I pay people in words for stuff I need to buy?

Richard Kain

It's true that a lot of the entertainment industry is having difficulties, and is having to cope with the rapid changes in technology and media consumption. But that's just a natural consequence of progress. And it's not like this is the first time the entertainment industry has had to cope with cultural shifts. (often due to advances in technology)

It survived before, it will survive again. Humans are a crafty, adaptable, and opportunistic lot. I'm confident we'll figure out a way to exloit the circumstances to come.