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Nice things about the web
By Dave Winer on Tuesday, August 17, 2010 at 1:37 PM.

A picture named cupcake.jpgOh how the Bay Area culture loves to make technology a life-and-death struggle. Things that were never alive in the first place, like the web and RSS are said to be "dead." I think it's hubris and bad karma to be in the business of pronouncing things dead. That's the province of a higher being . Us mortals, well we do die. I'd hate to have my last words be that something or someone else is dead.  #

Famously, Doc Searls's dad's last words were: Am I dead? #

A moment later he was. (He was having a fatal heart attack.) #

Anyway, to paraphrase the famous fictitious Met, Chico Escuela, "The web been berry berry good to me." So rather than say bad things about Wired and magazines, I thought I'd start a list of nice things about the web. If you'd like to make a contribution, leave a comment, or link to a blog post of your own that says something nice about the web. #

A picture named chico.jpg #

1. The web is where I read about the web being dead.  #

2. I can write what I want on the web and Steve Jobs doesn't have a say in it. #

3. NakedJen is called NakedJen on the web, where on Facebook she's called "Jennifer Neal," which I find both confusing and sad. #

4. If I want to write more than 140 characters on the web, I can damn well do it. (78 characters.) #

5. The web allows for graphics. That's how I was able to paste in the beautiful picture of a cupcake in the right margin. #

6. The web also makes reciprocity easy, that's why I linked to places you can buy cupcakes or books about cupcakes. These are all things that can make you happy. #

A picture named webIsDead.gif7. Corporate media is filled with lies and lunacy. But making it possible for me to seek the information I want without anyone telling me what I want the web makes it possible for me to get more nourishing news and information, and other points of view. Before the web, well it was a lot worse. A lot. #

Interesting contrast: This is what the web told me about the Ground Zero mosque. CNN's anchor would have flunked high school civics. #

8. It's where my brain trust meets to help me solve technical problems.  #

More to come! #




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