Gargoyles

Peter at Bug Labs suggested several months ago that I read Snow Crash . I've been meaning to read it for a long time. It's pretty well known that Linden Labs cite Snow Crash as the inspiration for creating Second Life.

I picked up the book on a trip to SF last month and finished it pretty quickly afterwards. It's a great story and I highly recommend it. It's hard to believe that this novel was published in 1992.

Neal Stephenson predicts many concepts in this novel. The Gargoyle might be the most interesting. Stephenson's Gargoyle's are individuals that are rewarded by creating and uploading content to the Metaverse (i.e. Internet) 24x7. They are so into this that they cover their body with gear to help them capture/upload data to the network constantly. And they watch, record and update.

Powerful idea. Blogging, twitter, flickr, veoh, youtube are key ingredients. And so are things like Justin.tv, Stickam, and Scoopt which provide different types of tools and incentives.

And while some might be worried about BigBrother issues, I see it as a powerful idea to connect us all. In a good way. No wonder video from things like Michael Richards all the way to the tragic gunfire at Virginia Tech came from a camera-phone. Just wait until the mobile phone can broadcast live content.

The long tail is about to get much longer.

Comments

[eliot]

Nice post! I read Snow Crash this past Fall and I remember the idea of the gargoyles well. It was interesting that Stephenson likened gargoyles to celebrity paparazzi, which was, as you mention, more in line with a big brother mindset. I guess this is understandable back in 1992 before the likes of all of the Internet social networking and personalized media feeds. Yet at the same time, the desire to be popular and 'seen' seems to have been rooted in the psyche since the beginning of human history. In any case, my personal feelings are more in sync with your thoughts on the positive aspects of a 'gargoyle' society.

Also, if you haven't already, I'd highly recommend Stephenson's Zodiac (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zodiac_%28novel%29), a fun 'eco-thriller' that takes place in and around Boston. I think it's even better when you reside near that dirty water :-) It's my favorite of his so far.

I'm reading Cryptonomicon right now, which is also very good.