My more recent focused definition of the phrase “golden swamp” is: the network in the open internet of what is known by humankind. Network laws operate freely out there causing the golden swamp to vet itself and emerge the freshest most authentic version of what is known about essentially each and every science, technology, humanities subject, etc. This remarkable new phenomenon is surely doing this: “taking advantage of new technology to give people something they want that they couldn’t have before.”
I picked up that line from an essay by Paul Graham that was featured by Jeff Jarvis in a blog post titled “Did we every pay for content?” Graham’s essay, “Post-Medium Publishing,” is a brilliant analysis of where publishing is going and why. These final paragraphs by Graham cast light on why I am convinced that the network medium will replace publishing for content delivery transformationally, platforming a global golden age of enlightenment.
I don’t know exactly what the future will look like, but I’m not too worried about it. This sort of change tends to create as many good things as it kills. Indeed, the really interesting question is not what will happen to existing forms, but what new forms will appear.
The reason I’ve been writing about existing forms is that I don’t know what new forms will appear. But though I can’t predict specific winners, I can offer a recipe for recognizing them. When you see something that’s taking advantage of new technology to give people something they want that they couldn’t have before, you’re probably looking at a winner. And when you see something that’s merely reacting to new technology in an attempt to preserve some existing source of revenue, you’re probably looking at a loser.
