The book 1.0
André has the excitement of someone who is traversing new ground, but he’s also serious about the work.
Hanif Abdurraqib • Andre 3000 is at Peace (For Now)
We’re looking at what’s going on in the world and using words to help people make sense of it. It’s ultimately a service to the reader — here’s what’s happening out there, why it’s important, and what it means for you.
What my writing is really about
The real breakthroughs that enabled the revival of the 1,000 True Fans model are better understood as cultural. The rise in both online news paywalls and subscription video-streaming services trained users to be more comfortable paying à la carte for content. When you already shell out regular subscription fees for newyorker.com, Netflix, Peacock,... See more
Cal Newport • The Rise of the Internet’s Creative Middle Class
If you’re lucky, perhaps something you post will temporarily spark a surge of engagement, but those same spectators, exhausted by the onslaught, will soon shift their weary attentions to the next recommended item flowing close behind. This relentless pace rewards passive consumption, not active interaction with individual creators. The... See more
Cal Newport • The Rise of the Internet’s Creative Middle Class
Perhaps one way to motivate and encourage regulators and enforcers everywhere is to explain that the subterranean architecture of the internet has become a shadowland where evolution has all but stopped. Regulators’ efforts to make the visible internet competitive will achieve little unless they also tackle the devastation that lies beneath.
Maria Farrell • We Need to Rewild the Internet
People pay to see others believe in themselves.
“I’M REALLY SCARED WHEN I KILL IN MY DREAMS” (FROM A LYRIC BY GLENN BRANCA)
but continued a love affair with language and meaning as texture and material.
James Bridle • Why I Write
The co-opting of “community” into a sales strategy is insidious, not only because it reduces likeminded groups of people to consumer demographics, but because, in an era when we’re all encouraged to cultivate our own “personal brands,” it also reduces each of us to a salesperson , seeking out likeminded people in order to sell them things , whether... See more
You are not a commercial for yourself
The internet is not only a network of cables, servers, and computers. It is an environment that shapes and is shaped by its inhabitants and their use.