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FROM_THE_RETRENCHES

                                             September 26, 2010

We've seen this happen often enough that we ought to
be able to see our way through:

A technical development that lowers publication
costs leads to an explosion of published work,              pulp
it's all fascinating at first, then quickly we're           paperback
swamped in mediocrity, everyone loses interest,             xerox
and the amount of work receeds...                           CD-Rs
                                                            digital cameras
   And then what?  How does the story end?                  cellphone video

   We can't live without flamespotters,
   without filtering agents.

   Editors (including copy editors),
   play an important role, however much
   writers like to complain about their
   interference.  Similarly, the music
   studio production staff is well-known                Doing the job
   for their "over-produced" sound, but                 right: "Rocket
   they get little credit when they do                  to Russia".
   their job right.


       The current dream is that this filtering
       role can somehow be "outsourced" along
       with content production: crowd created,
       crowd selected, and crowd pleasing.

       I got my doubts, as usual, but it works
       sometimes. In some ways, under some conditions.




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