Re: <nettime> Capitalism is FINISHED -- As a Result of the Internet!

[Newmedia@aol.com]

Jon:
 
> AS i wrote earlier, i'm doubtful about this - especially 
> given the marketing succes of Apple, and the way that 
> people seem to throw away old phones and tablets in 
> a rush to get the newest Apple thing, which often does 
> not seem to be a necessary improvement.
 
As the folks at Apple will tell you, their advertising spend to  "attract" 
customers (who Steve Jobs famously referred to as "bozos") --  such as the 
iconic "Think Different" campaign and even the original MAC  Superbowl ad -- 
have largely occurred in MASS-MEDIA, where Apple can "control  the message."
 
Many people also *refuse* to buy APPLE products.  Since I followed the  
company for 20+ years on Wall Street, they are quite happy to be a  *minority* 
market-share holder.  Apple is a *especially* good example of a  company 
that doesn't let people "talk back" (i.e. the hallmark of  mass-media, not the 
web.)  Perhaps those who refuse are the  "non-bozos" who are being 
(relatively) more rational?  
 
My comments about advertising are largely reports from people INSIDE that  
industry -- not my own "opinions."  My guess is that you would benefit from  
talking to some advertising veterans to see what they have learned over the 
 past 20+ years.
 
I see from your resume and publications history at UTS that your "job" in  
the Social and Political Change Group is to investigate how "the ways that  
software can produce disorder and disruption" and that you are also 
interested  in "the psycho-social history of Western science and the occult."
 
Good!  These are certainly very interesting topics!  Its great to  see that 
someone has an "aim to finding solutions for these ongoing  problems."
 
_http://datasearch2.uts.edu.au/fass/academic/group/change/details.cfm?StaffI
d=1970_ 
(http://datasearch2.uts.edu.au/fass/academic/group/change/details.cfm?StaffId=1970) 
 
However, you might be mistaken about how the "old mcluhanites all argued  
that the web makes the world appear more magical."  To be sure, there are  
some "occultists" who have attached their names to McLuhan, who you might be  
confusing with those who have tried to pay attention to what McLuhan 
actually  said.
 
Since I was recently on the organizing committee for the largest gathering  
of McLuhan scholars ever -- MM100 in Toronto in November 2011, where 200+ 
papers  were presented -- I can assure you that no one is making the  "magic" 
argument about the WEB nowadays (well maybe Powe but not  Kroker) . . . at 
least not where people can talk back.  (That said,  the RETREVAL quadrant in 
the *tetrad* for television in "Laws of Media" is "The  Occult" p. 158!) 
 
 
My entire point in his conversation has been that TELEVISION and the WEB  
have fundamentally different *effects* on us, which show up in consumption  
patterns.  Perhaps, as indicated by your Apple comments, you are conflating  
the two?
 

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