Damn! Should have read this sooner. Would have helped out with my reputation research.
I like the cultural approach taken by Howard Rheingold. Futurology is difficult. I remember reading Negroponte’s book about his experiences with MIT media lab at the end of the eighties. He was all on about video recorders, video conferencing and VR. I think he was too caught up in the specific technologies. When you look at what VCRs and video conferencing are about, the social principles behind them are still relevant, personal recording and new means of communication. The big tech/social-evolution issues right now are about this. MP3s and Tivos are the next gen of VCRs, and it’s the personal recording aspects of this that are more important than the technology itself. The same with communication, video conferencing never took off because of the cost, but low cost communication is under going a revolution. Mobile phones and in particular SMS are taking off, both the basis for Rheingold’s book.
So what’s next… Personal recording crossed with communication. The 3R (Recommendation, Rating, Reputation) enabled P2P environment, as described still again in Smart Mobs. Prompts some interesting thoughts.
