The wealth of information now available at the click of a finger amazes me.


Clark Gable seemed fascinating all his life because there wasn't so much information about him. Today, you're on television all the time.

All of a sudden, if you think about the entire ecosystem of connected devices that can pull down information, access content and allow me to share and work and communicate, the vast majority now are not Windows computers. They are iPhones. They are iPads. They are Android devices.

Information is power. But like all power, there are those who want to keep it for themselves.

Writing an encyclopedia is hard. To do anywhere near a decent job, you have to know a great deal of information about an incredibly wide variety of subjects. Writing so much text is difficult, but doing all the background research seems impossible.

The majority of the wealth of human knowledge is owned by a few publishing companies that hoard information and make billions off licensing fees, although most scholarly articles and journals are paid for by taxpayers through government grants.

In a world where audiences listen for attitudes rather than arguments or information, speakers must feel the pressure to posture rather than engage.