OWNING STUFF
Over the past few days, a leading media company challenged a leading artificial intelligence company with a lawsuit over a copyright matter. The New York Times claims that OpenAI (creator of ChatGPT) has used the media company’s content without permission and paying for it. As someone who works in the media industry, I’ve been thinking about the same issue particularly when it’s time to look at the balance sheets of media companies. The New York Times may win or lose this case, however, its challenge will shake the manner in which technology companies use other people’s content. One such content is personal data and other pieces of information that will live on the internet.
Lately, I’ve been thinking about personal posts, tweets (or X’s as they say now), and other personal nuggets that will live on the virtual space. I’ve come to a realisation that as much as we gain we’re also losing by dumping our stuff online. If you don’t believe me, think about your music. Chances are you no longer have CD’s or DVD’s. You probably also don’t have your personal album with your photographs. Most people in the digital sphere store their stuff on the cloud. Our music is on Spotify, Apple Music, and other similar services. To access such content we have to pay a subscription fee monthly or annually. Failure to pay may mean the end of accessing such material. Now think again about other posts. For some who post religiously, they would have written a book or published a magazine by now.
Don’t even get me started about photographs that live on the cloud and on devices. How much of these things do we have real access to them? By now, I’m sure you get where I’m going with this line of reasoning. I think it’s about time that we start owning stuff. This is not a call to ignore minimalism, it’s my plea for us to start valuing our memories, experiences and creations. It is also not a refusal to adhere to the sustainability message which calls on us to print less stuff. I’m just pointing out that we’ve adopted practices that take away what ought to belong to us in the name of convenience. In line with this thought, I have personally decided to document and say more on my own website and less on social media platforms. I will do so while maintaining a database of stuff that I post on my website.
At the same time, I will start to print some of my best photographs (by that I mean more meaningful ones and not everything). I will accelerate on my book buying behaviour and take my foot off the pedal on audiobooks. I’ll be working on expanding my library.
In this regard I realise I’m not alone. More people are beginning to see the light and folly of everything digital. I’m realibly informed that wired earphones are making a come back aswell as other things that are more physical in nature. For now, this may sound trivial until our houses and cars are connected as well as other important things. I’m of the view that due to our adoption of digital things we have also gave up on what is due to us and other precious things. It’s time to reflect on what we’ve been doing and count (physically) our blessings. This I believe will lead to more meaningful experiences that will enrich our lives.