JETTING ACROSS the Atlantic is much more pleasant with a personal entertainment system in my pocket. I like having music, audio lectures, and podcasts at my fingertips. I like knowing that my pleasant iPod experience means the record monopoly has lost control of the consumer experience. Not that the record industry acknowledges that fact. But it's true--consumers don't have to respond only to the channels and the content pushed down from the labels or the networks. We have options, like the playlists that I can drag and drop onto my iPod.
It astounded me when I first watched a first year (freshman college) student rip music tracks and DVDs in the canteen. This year, those students made a handful of podcasts, most with podsafe music. Many will finish their first year of college with their own blogs.
You don't have to be in college to do these things. Anyone can blog, listen to a podcast or comment on both. It's important to nurture these things because they represent our culture.
Steve Gillmor -- "Letting them eat cake"
