What makes something generative?
According to Zittrain, in chapter 4, there are five factors that make something generative. Those five factors are leverage, adaptability, ease of mastery, accessibility, and transferability. These five factors are all linked. Leverage refers to the simplification of difficult tasks. Leverage is not only a factor of generative systems. Non-generative systems can provide leverage as well. Adaptability refers to how easily a system can be built on or modified to broaden its range of uses. But, not all systems that have great leveraging have great adaptability.Some systems can be highly leveraging while only suited for an limited range of applications. When a technology is easy to use and understand for broad audiences, this is referred to as the ease of mastery. When various demographics can easily use and understand a technology it is considered easy to master. But, not all technologies that have leverage and adaptability are easy to learn. Certain technologies require skills that are learned through schooling and apprenticeship. The fourth factor is accessibility. When a technology allows easily obtainable access along with the tools and information necessary to master it, it is referred to as accessibility. The more easily accessible a technology is, the more generative it can be. The final factor that affects generativity is transferability. This factor refers to how easily changes in a technology can be conveyed to others. A technology that has good transferability will be conveyed to those less-skilled as easily as they are to those who are more highly skilled. All these factors define what a generative system features.
What do generative systems produce vs. non-generative systems?
When it comes to generative and non-generative technologies, there is no clear cut winner as to which type of system should come out on top. Both types of technologies have their own advantages making them effective. But, generative and non-generative technologies do produce different results with both systems having pros and cons.
When a technology is generative, with all five factors maximized, it makes it easier for a system or platform to welcome contributions from insiders and outsiders. Both these insiders and outsiders enhance the technology or create something that attracts the attention of or is useful to a broad audience. Examples of generative technologies are the internet and the PC. The generativity of the internet produces the "The Long Tail." Rather than focusing on mega-hits and the mainstream like businesses traditionally do, the Long Tail focuses on many niche audiences. According to Chris Anderson, author of the article "The Long Tail," there is more money to be made on the many niche audiences. One example of of this is Amazon. Because the internet has eliminated the factor of distance from sales, people anywhere in the world can purchase the things they like as well as hear from others who share their same interests right on the internet. The generativity of the Long Tail business model allows more profit to be made because of the variety of niche groups sharing their interests with each other.
Not all businesses are modeled this way. As Benkler describes in The Wealth of Networks, some businesses are not as generative as others. They make trade-offs in order to make profit. Benkler talks about information and how some companies have privatized information in order to make profit. He goes on to say that information, as a public good, only needs to be created once. But, the market will not produce them at their marginal cost, zero. Therefore, the publishing of information is regulated. This regulation causes companies to limit competition because of patents and copyrights. These copyrights and patents involve a trade-off which makes that it is inefficient that people and firms sell the information they possess. Although the companies can set the prices of their goods, they make a trade-off by losing innovation. The information they have is less generative because they do not want to give their products away for free. There will be a lack of increased potential revenue.
What about generative system that makes trade-offs?
Wikipedia. Although Wikipedia started out as completely free (in all definitions of the word), as it grew more popular, it had to make trade-offs in order to maintain efficiency. Wikipedia started as and is still a generative tool because it is considered a public good produced at the marginal cost of zero. When Wikipedia first began it allowed anyone to edit or create in its database of articles. This allows for an environment of abundant content on a diverse number of subjects. Essentially, Wikipedia did not have many rules that were set in stone. It could be moderated by anyone on the internet. But, overtime, it had to make some trade-offs in order to maintain efficiency of the wiki. As Zittrain describes in Chapter 6, Wikipedia began to limit the power of users on the site. Not anyone could edit articles on the database anymore. Edits also had to be justified. There were now rules set in place for a maximum number of edits called "The Three Edit Rule" so users would not be able to have "Edit Wars." Wikipedia also had a ranking system that showed a person's credibility on Wikipedia using "barnstars." These barnstars did not verify credentials in real life. Certain Wikipedia articles were now "locked" from being edited by the public in order to keep articles from being vandalized. Although Wikipedia is free and generative, it had to make some trade-offs to maintain its efficiency as a "reputable" wiki.
No comments:
Post a Comment