Generativity

In this weeks reading of Zittrain's book, The Future of the Internet-and How to Stop It, the topic of generativity and innovation were discussed. In these chapters Zittrain uses the telephone company AT&T, as well as  proprietary internet networks like CompuServe and AOL, as examples of companies that were limited in their generativity. These three service providers are similar in that their systems were not subject to innovation from third parties. Instead, they provided a set framework in which the user was able to operate. Because of this, they were slow to evolve and eventually lost out to network providers that were more flexible to users. Zittrain describes this effect when he explains,

"If anything, we would expect the proprietary networks to offer more, and for a while they did. But they also had a natural desire to act as gatekeepers—to validate anything appearing on their network, to cut individual deals for revenue sharing with their content providers, and to keep their customers from affecting the network’s technology. These tendencies meant that their rates of growth and differentiation were slow" (81). 

This effect is something that I actually experienced first hand as a user of AOL. AOL was for me, and probably for most people my age, a first introduction to the wonders of the Internet. The way I view my experiences with AOL is that it was the perfect system for me at the time, because I was a child and didn't know anything about the internet. The format was simple enough, even fun, for a person of such little knowledge and I didn't want, need, or expect much else. However, I grew up and AOL didn't. As I began to realize the full potential of the Internet I naturally began to want more from it, and AOL did not provide. Unfortunately for AOL, being able to have Christina Aguilera tell me "You've got mail!" every time I logged on was not enough for me to stay.

Zittrain's examples of generative versus non generative tools aided me in further understanding the concept. As an example of a generative game Zittrain lists dice and playing cards. These two games, or toys, are generative because you can make up your own rules and even change them every time you play.  A board game, on the other hand, is not generative because it typically comes in a certain format that requires you to play a certain way. These two examples make it easier to understand generativity in the context of the Internet, as well as the benefits of a generative system. Because the Internet is so accessible, and because it is used by an incredibly diverse demographic, it makes sense that a generative system is preferable over a non-generative one. Flexible networks are the reason why there has been so much beneficial innovation since the days of AOL.