Shouldn't We Embrace the Remix?

[Rob Williams]

Is "everything a remix"? According to Kirby Ferguson, the answer is "yes". Without feeding off the knowledge of others, and their creations, Kirby believes the world would not be where it is today. While a company might tout having invented something, and of course wastes no time in patenting it, it's very likely that it would simply not exist if not for the work of others.

Read through the rest of our post and then discuss it here!

 

[eunoia]

Like most TED talks, its vastly oversimplified for an audience that's not known for generating new ideas. In reality, you can't really compare artistic ideas and the degree to which they're "borrowed" that broadly with ideas that "advance the useful arts".

The situation with Apple is admittedly ridiculous, given what they owe, but let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater: patent and copyright law will always have an important purpose. It's useful to consider the "nothing is original" mindset the speaker manufactures, but also consider the mindset of the geniuses that actually have the original ideas and are unable to benefit at all in the climate the speaker proposes.

It's putting a band-aid on a gushing wound to try to right the wrongs of the past, and cryptomnesia does happen, but at least we have the technology now to document new ideas and afford some justice to the originators.

 

[madmat]

You touched on the one thing that rankles me about the whole Apple situation. Jobs was pretty open about admitting to stealing ideas back when they were the new kids but now that Apple is the entrenched company with their fingers in all the pies, they want to burn anyone that has anything resembling their IP. Even when their IP is taken from prior art.

I mean seriously? The iPad is a total take off of the P.A.D. from TNG. Same formfactor, same design, hell except for the i the same freaking name. The estate of Gene Roddenberry should sue Apple's ass off.

 

[Rob Williams]

Great points guys! As I'm unable to say anything about Apple that shines the company in a poor light, I'll just not bother.