The Logic of Luxury - P2P-Zone

TankGirl · 31-03-05, 06:17 PM

The Logic of Luxury

There’s a new digital world in the making. Its essential condition will be that of abundance, and its functional logic will be that of luxury.

The transition to the new world and its new logical order has been underway for five years. It started from the big popularity bang of Napster, and has advanced ever since with irresistible force. P2P has been the driving technology behind the transition, but ISPs, computer and communication gear manufacturers plus gadget manufacturers have all been deeply involved in the process and keep contributing to its momentum.

The signs of approaching luxury

While approaching full-blown luxury we will pass through various intermediate states of having-it-better-than-before. As it all happens in a framework of evolving technologies, there will be some obvious and objective technological indicators for our progress. On the hardware side we will get every year that much more bang for our buck: more processing power, more mass memory, more bandwidth, more gadget features and functionality. On the software side we will get every year more advanced p2p clients capable of utilizing the increasing power of the new hardware and at the same time introducing whatever new social or security features are needed to keep the show going. And on the social side we will see more and more people getting the idea of luxury and joining the fun.

Luxury is overwhelming diversity

The content aspect of luxury includes the easy availability of popular and trendy items but more generally it means easy availability of everything from the most branded and promoted to the most obscure and eccentric. There is no technical or practical need to exclude anything. With plentiful mass storage and plentiful bandwidth we can easily archive and keep globally available every recorded and published work that has ever found its way onto the digital domain. There is room for everything from professional masterpieces to silly amateur works, and we can easily arrange so that anybody is free to discover and enjoy anything they ever wish from this big pool of recorded creation.

Lovers as guardians of content

In the conditions of luxury the content is best protected and promoted by its lovers. The true lovers or fans of a specific artist, band, genre or label are the most dedicated and well-informed people to protect the quality, integrity and availability of the associated content. These are the people who not only want to have every official release and every worthy bootleg – they also want to promote the artist and her releases wherever possible, and they have the best knowledge and motivation to do it. In technical terms a small group of dedicated fans scattered around the globe is all that is needed to provide an earthquake-proof archival and a 24/7 high-speed delivery service covering the complete works of an artist plus whatever related information and other material is available.

Popularity and money

The notion of popularity will remain meaningful also in abundant content conditions, but it will no more be linked to the ideas of availability and pricing. There will still be hit movies, hit songs and high profile artists but their popularity will result much less from commercial promotion and much more from non-commercial peer interaction. Measured popularity can still be used as a basis for splitting the payouts from collective compensation pools (if such are applied) but for common p2p users that will be mostly invisible and irrelevant. The movements of money will happen outside the p2p infrastructure and its content economy, so the average user can eat whatever she wishes as much as she wishes without having to worry about the bill.

That’s what luxury is. We can’t afford it for the entire world population in sport cars or diamonds but we can and will afford it with digitized art, entertainment and information. We’re already halfway there.

- tg

napho · 02-04-05, 04:48 PM

So true TG. Luxury can be manifested in so many ways. Everyone. regardless of race, creed, or income level can find what pleases them through the evolving world of technnology. Recently I discovered a little slice of technological heaven myself. Lo and behold...create a world of fascination and wonderment for yourself.

http://www.realdoll.com/config/demo/index.html

TankGirl · 02-04-05, 05:31 PM

Even if you are talking about slightly different hardware than what referred to in my musings, your observation and conclusions are insightful as usual, my Canadian comrade.

The same general principle of getting more bang for your buck every year will no doubt apply also to sex toys and dolls, especially to the high end of the product spectrum. It is only a question of time when a common consumer can both get and afford to buy not only physically lifelike and attractive but also artificially intelligent, perhaps even creative and imaginative, sex dolls with customizable features to serve as their personal sex slaves.

This will of course have huge social and even genetic consequences, but discussing them in detail is perhaps beyond the scope of this thread. Nevertheless, I am glad to see that you of all Napsterites have ventured into this interesting technological pioneer area where - just like in p2p - desire for pleasure meets high tech solutions. Knowing your fearless and exploring spirit in matters of p2p, I look forward to reading your informative and detailed reports about the functionality and user experience of the latest products on the market.

Mazer · 03-04-05, 09:23 AM

napho point's out something interesting though. There's no reason why online luxuries shouldn't be able to translate into the real world. After all, everything online was made by real people and is hosted by real machines, and most of the content rarely refers to cyberspace or its own online existence. In the end the only online luxury that matter's at all is the internet's ability to connect real people together no matter the distances and differences between them. Once those connections are made then they become an extension of offline living, business, work, and of course leisure time.

Have a look at this idea for a 3D printer with the capability of manufacturing copies of itself and other complex devices. You think the IP nazis are bad when it comes to music and movies? Wait until somebody gets his hands on one of these and starts selling duplicates out of his garage or, gasp, gives them away for free.

Nicobie · 09-04-05, 06:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TankGirl

The Logic of Luxury

I used to think of U as a I. Asimov type, don't know now....

Maybe a kinked out Heinlein?

heshes

31-03-05, 06:17 PM	#1
TankGirl Madame Comrade Join Date: May 2000 Location: Area 25 Posts: 5,587	The Logic of Luxury The Logic of Luxury There’s a new digital world in the making. Its essential condition will be that of abundance, and its functional logic will be that of luxury. The transition to the new world and its new logical order has been underway for five years. It started from the big popularity bang of Napster, and has advanced ever since with irresistible force. P2P has been the driving technology behind the transition, but ISPs, computer and communication gear manufacturers plus gadget manufacturers have all been deeply involved in the process and keep contributing to its momentum. The signs of approaching luxury While approaching full-blown luxury we will pass through various intermediate states of having-it-better-than-before. As it all happens in a framework of evolving technologies, there will be some obvious and objective technological indicators for our progress. On the hardware side we will get every year that much more bang for our buck: more processing power, more mass memory, more bandwidth, more gadget features and functionality. On the software side we will get every year more advanced p2p clients capable of utilizing the increasing power of the new hardware and at the same time introducing whatever new social or security features are needed to keep the show going. And on the social side we will see more and more people getting the idea of luxury and joining the fun. Luxury is overwhelming diversity The content aspect of luxury includes the easy availability of popular and trendy items but more generally it means easy availability of everything from the most branded and promoted to the most obscure and eccentric. There is no technical or practical need to exclude anything. With plentiful mass storage and plentiful bandwidth we can easily archive and keep globally available every recorded and published work that has ever found its way onto the digital domain. There is room for everything from professional masterpieces to silly amateur works, and we can easily arrange so that anybody is free to discover and enjoy anything they ever wish from this big pool of recorded creation. Lovers as guardians of content In the conditions of luxury the content is best protected and promoted by its lovers. The true lovers or fans of a specific artist, band, genre or label are the most dedicated and well-informed people to protect the quality, integrity and availability of the associated content. These are the people who not only want to have every official release and every worthy bootleg – they also want to promote the artist and her releases wherever possible, and they have the best knowledge and motivation to do it. In technical terms a small group of dedicated fans scattered around the globe is all that is needed to provide an earthquake-proof archival and a 24/7 high-speed delivery service covering the complete works of an artist plus whatever related information and other material is available. Popularity and money The notion of popularity will remain meaningful also in abundant content conditions, but it will no more be linked to the ideas of availability and pricing. There will still be hit movies, hit songs and high profile artists but their popularity will result much less from commercial promotion and much more from non-commercial peer interaction. Measured popularity can still be used as a basis for splitting the payouts from collective compensation pools (if such are applied) but for common p2p users that will be mostly invisible and irrelevant. The movements of money will happen outside the p2p infrastructure and its content economy, so the average user can eat whatever she wishes as much as she wishes without having to worry about the bill. That’s what luxury is. We can’t afford it for the entire world population in sport cars or diamonds but we can and will afford it with digitized art, entertainment and information. We’re already halfway there. - tg __________________ My Blog: Reflections on P2P Revolution

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02-04-05, 04:48 PM	#2
napho Dawn's private genie Join Date: May 2001 Location: the Canadian wasteland Posts: 4,461	So true TG. Luxury can be manifested in so many ways. Everyone. regardless of race, creed, or income level can find what pleases them through the evolving world of technnology. Recently I discovered a little slice of technological heaven myself. Lo and behold...create a world of fascination and wonderment for yourself. http://www.realdoll.com/config/demo/index.html

02-04-05, 05:31 PM	#3
TankGirl Madame Comrade Join Date: May 2000 Location: Area 25 Posts: 5,587	Even if you are talking about slightly different hardware than what referred to in my musings, your observation and conclusions are insightful as usual, my Canadian comrade. The same general principle of getting more bang for your buck every year will no doubt apply also to sex toys and dolls, especially to the high end of the product spectrum. It is only a question of time when a common consumer can both get and afford to buy not only physically lifelike and attractive but also artificially intelligent, perhaps even creative and imaginative, sex dolls with customizable features to serve as their personal sex slaves. This will of course have huge social and even genetic consequences, but discussing them in detail is perhaps beyond the scope of this thread. Nevertheless, I am glad to see that you of all Napsterites have ventured into this interesting technological pioneer area where - just like in p2p - desire for pleasure meets high tech solutions. Knowing your fearless and exploring spirit in matters of p2p, I look forward to reading your informative and detailed reports about the functionality and user experience of the latest products on the market.

03-04-05, 09:23 AM	#4
Mazer Earthbound misfit Join Date: May 2001 Location: Moses Lake, Washington Posts: 2,563	napho point's out something interesting though. There's no reason why online luxuries shouldn't be able to translate into the real world. After all, everything online was made by real people and is hosted by real machines, and most of the content rarely refers to cyberspace or its own online existence. In the end the only online luxury that matter's at all is the internet's ability to connect real people together no matter the distances and differences between them. Once those connections are made then they become an extension of offline living, business, work, and of course leisure time. Have a look at this idea for a 3D printer with the capability of manufacturing copies of itself and other complex devices. You think the IP nazis are bad when it comes to music and movies? Wait until somebody gets his hands on one of these and starts selling duplicates out of his garage or, gasp, gives them away for free.