An article in Harper’s Magazine on “disintermediation” asking questions about the meaning of the now almost fully commercialised internet. Do we need “gatekeepers”? Is specialist knowledge worth cultivating? Ellen Ullman ruminates on the debate over whether desire and experience are only individual or whether there is a social aspect to these things – and concludes personal connections and expertise shouldn’t be traded away for the convenience of the few who are able to just sit back and order everything to their door.
“The reality is a world divided not only between the haves and have-nots but between the ones who get to stay home and everyone else, the ones who deliver the goods to them. The Net ideal represents a retreat not only from political life but also from culture – from that tumultuous conversation in which we try to talk to one another about our shared experiences.”