WEBPLUNGER

Prince say internet over. Nerd say you’re over. Barryfest say: Nerds, come on! A reblog we couldn’t pass up…

barryfest:

“The internet’s completely over… all these computers and digital gadgets are no good. They just fill your head with numbers and that can’t be good for you.””

—

Prince - world exclusive interview: Peter Willis goes inside the star’s secret world - mirror.co.uk

Nerds everywhere wasted no time in taking to the comment sections of every blog that covered this Daily Mirror interview to defend the honor of their precious internet.  Don’t get me wrong, I found the endless variations on the “Prince is the one that is completely over” zinger both thought-provoking and amusing, but I’m left wondering why everyone was so quick to rally behind, of all things, the internet.

Prince is not attacking the series of tubes that plugs computer boxes from around the globe into each other as much as he is questioning the manner in which artists get compensated in the age of digital music downloads.  Regardless of one’s personal feelings towards Prince or his music, everyone should support a guy with decades of industry experience, an enormous fan base and nearly unlimited resources as he challenges the current music publishing and distribution paradigm - a paradigm that is still nebulous and flawed to say the least.

If his plan works, we all win.  Any change to the crumbling, hostile music industry has to be seen as a change for the better.  And if this scheme backfires, Prince can go back to throwing vegan orgies in Chanhassen and no one will be any worse for the wear.

But the next time you feel the urge to valiantly defend a global system of interconnected computer networks against one the honest critique of the most prolific musicians of all time, just remember this: Without Prince, there would be no internet. Well, maybe not. But I would still suggest that everyone quick being such dorks.

Downturn? Down this…Broadband is on the rise, what a surprise! (joke)

At the dawn of 2009, the ‘year ahead’ predictions included blurbs of broadbands necessary and likely expansion throughout the US & abroad. Well, they were right, which is no shocker quite frankly. It’s an obvious necessity regardless of technology’s gadgets that use it, and so the below stat from Harvard Business Publishing’s ‘THE DAILY STAT’ lets you know what the status of said prediction currently is:

OCTOBER 21, 2009 Broadband Connections Increase Rapidly Despite the economic downturn, the number of household broadband connections continues to grow robustly, and one in five households worldwide will have a fixed broadband connection by the end of 2009, according to Gartner. At the end of 2008, approximately 21 countries had broadband connections in at least 50% of homes, with the highest penetration in South Korea (86%) and the lowest in Indonesia (less than 1%). Source: Gartner

-brought to u by MB

Source: HBR.org> daily stat email