Tangent — What Color is the Sky?

So Rupert Murdoch finally has the paywalls up completely on the Times. I’ve been reading about this coming event for quite a while now. It’s my understanding that Murdoch based part of his decision on another paper he owns that requires paid subscriptions for online reading — The Wall Street Journal. The only problem with his thinking is that the Wall Street Journal targets a much smaller audience, provides information more difficult to obtain and the readers have more means to pay. It can’t be said enough that the Times stuff is easily available elsewhere unless the Times has one helluva editorial team, which is doubtful. So I’m not sure what Murdoch is thinking to compare the two papers.

Perhaps he’s not thinking, since it’s also my understanding that he personally does not use the internet. ROFLOL!!! Wait. I think he’s almost 80. Okay, that explains it. Wait, my 70 something year old mother has an iPhone and accesses the internet with it, and yes, to get her news. As if that’s not enough, so do my almost 80 year old mother-in-law and father-in-law, so no, age doesn’t explain it. He must be on another planet ’cause the color of the sky in his world is not the same as the rest of us, and apparently he’s as unrealistic as Prince, who I already thought was crazy. Oh wait, I meant the artist formerly known as Prince. No, I’m wrong, he’s back to Prince. Whatever, I’m not talking about the royals:

…”The internet’s completely over. I don’t see why I should give my new music to iTunes or anyone else. They won’t pay me an advance for it and then they get angry when they can’t get it.

“The internet’s like MTV. At one time MTV was hip and suddenly it became outdated. Anyway, all these computers and digital gadgets are no good.

“They just fill your head with numbers and that can’t be good for you.”

The rest of the interview.

Alrighty then. Those devices in our hands are really just a figment of our imaginations and will soon disappear. I don’t think ol’ Rupe thinks those devices are going away, but just like Prince, he thinks he can create a scarcity where none exists. But of course the devil’s advocate rears his head and has me remembering that Rupert and Prince are friggin’ geniuses, and sometimes we think geniuses are crazy — especially when they see something the rest of us can’t. This is going to drive me crazy until I know these paywalls fail. Then again, I understand they might be necessary. If so, it’s going to be sad to see the golden era of information coming to an end.

In the meantime, I love how one of the frequent commenters at Tech Dirt put it:

Hephaestus said:

He will fail. Will it get me laid? will it make me money? is it required for work? his paper doesnt match any of those so its a fail, and few if any will pay for it.

I hope you’re right, Heph.