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Economic Crisis Will Eliminate Open Source

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the why-so-gloomy dept.

An anonymous reader writes "The economic crisis will ultimately eliminate open source projects and the 'Web 2.0 free economy,' says Andrew Keen, author of The Cult of the Amateur. Along with the economic downturn and record job loss, he says, we will see the elimination of projects including Wikipedia, CNN's iReport, and much of the blogosphere. Instead of users offering their services 'for free,' he says, we're about to see a 'sharp cultural shift in our attitude toward the economic value of our labor' and a rise of online media businesses that reward their contributors with cash. Companies that will survive, he says, include Hulu, iTunes, and Mahalo. 'The hungry and cold unemployed masses aren't going to continue giving away their intellectual labor on the Internet in the speculative hope that they might get some "back end" revenue,' says Keen."

2 of 753 comments (clear)

  1. First Nigger by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    A little monkey is up in a tree and he feels safe there. So safe that when a big ferocious tiger comes along, he grabs a coconut and hurls it down, hitting the tiger in the face. The tiger says "if you do that again, you'll be very very sorry." The monkey laughs since he feels so safe in his tree and throws another coconut, hitting the tiger again. The tiger gets so pisses off that he grabs the tree and shakes it, making the monkey fall down to the ground. The tiger pounces on the monkey, holds him down, and says "ok, I am feeling nice today so I will give you a choice. I can bite your head off or I can bite your tail off. Make up your mind." The monkey does not hesitate and says "bite off my head." The tiger cannot believe this and says "why? If I bite off your tail at least you will live." The monkey says "yes, but if you bite off my tail, then I would be a NIGGER!"

  2. Re:Yeah right. by _KiTA_ · · Score: 0, Troll

    Advertising + Blogs = continuance of our current model.

    He just doesn't get that some people do things not for the money.

    And he'd no doubt say that you don't get that people doing things for other things than money won't have the luxury of spare time in a 3rd Bush term.