Download - Future of the Internet – And how to stop it.

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After the Stall
of it. A set of PCs being destroyed by a virus from afar is a change brought
about by a generative system that is internally bad because it harms the system’s
generativity. The development and distribution of a generic installer program
for a PC, which makes it easy for other software authors to bundle their work so
that users can easily install and use it, is an example of a generative system producing
an internally good change, because it makes the system more generative.
Generative outputs can also be judged as good or bad by reference to external
values. If people use a generative system to produce software that allows its
users to copy music and video without the publishers’ permissions, those supportive
of publishers will rationally see generativity’s disruptive potential as
bad. When a generative system produces the means to circumvent Internet filtering
in authoritarian states, people in favor of citizen empowerment will approve.
Generativity’s benefits can be grouped more formally as at least two distinct
goods, one deriving from unanticipated change, and the other from inclusion
of large and varied audiences. The first good is its innovative output: new
things that improve people’s lives. The second good is its participatory input,
based on a belief that a life well lived is one in which there is opportunity to
connect to other people, to work with them, and to express one’s own individuality
through creative endeavors.
GENERATIVITY’S OUTPUT: INNOVATION
To those for whom innovation is important, generative systems can provide for
a kind of organic innovation that might not take place without them.
The Limits of Non-generative Innovation
Non-generative systems can grow and evolve, but their growth is channeled
through their makers: a new toaster is released by Amana and reflects anticipated
customer demand or preferences, or an old proprietary network like
CompuServe adds a new form of instant messaging by programming it itself.
When users pay for products or services in one way or another, those who control
the products or services amid competition are responsive to their desires
through market pressure. This is an indirect means of innovation, and there is
a growing set of literature about its limitation: a persistent bottleneck that prevents
certain new uses from being developed and cultivated by large incumbent
firms, despite the benefits they could enjoy with a breakthrough. 16