Episode 319: Tom Standage
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The Future Repeats Itself
A new era of technology brings about advancements that both thrill and concern society. Some see the oncoming innovations as the solution to our problems, others as the harbinger of the end, but one thing is certain: this isn’t the first time. Whether it’s the criticisms of social media, new vehicles meant to make communing easier, or industries disrupted by new technology, the present can look to and learn from the examples of the past.
Tom Standage is the Deputy Editor at The Economist and the author of several books. His latest book, A Brief History of Motion: From the Wheel, to the Car, to What Comes Next, explores how personal vehicles have changed and shaped societies for millennia and continue to do so now with the onset of self-driving technology.
Tom and Greg discuss how the present tech concerns echo panics of the past and the ways in which the discussion of self-driving vehicles today is following the discourse of other major shifts in society, like that from horses to vehicles. Tom gives a different take on the prevalence of smartphones and why it’s wise to take with a grain of salt both the prophets and the doomsayers of new innovations.
*unSILOed Podcast is produced by University FM.*
Episode Quotes:
Curating information for readers who want to save time
22:02: The Economist has always got most of its revenue from subscriptions. We have quite a high subscription price. Because basically, we have people who don't have much time but have enough money. They pay us to save them time. And getting up to speed quickly on what's happening in the world is the service we provide to our readers. And they pay us money for that information directly. And there isn't an intermediary. There aren't tech platforms, advertisers, and clicks in the middle. But the other thing they're paying us to do is curate what's happened. Tell them what's important. And very often, that's something like, "Have you noticed what's happened to the economy of Venezuela?" That's not a very clickbaity subject, but you know, essentially, that responsibility we have to our readers, which is tell you what's important that you didn't know you needed to know about. You are never going to get that with a click-driven model.
Can journalists see things that professional historians can't see?
18:42: Journalism is structured very differently from history and from academia because it's not generally about learning more and more about a thing. It's generally being able to pick things up quickly.
What’s the problem with the click-driven model?
32:33: The problem with a click-driven model is, firstly, it distorts those sorts of journalistic incentives. But then the other problem with it is that even if you can make a click-driven model work, you are mortgaging your future to the platform that is sending you the clicks.
Can we fix misinformation?
41:02: I think getting information in that direct way, directly from someone who you pay and who you trust, is something that we are likely to see more of, and swimming in the seas of misinformation is something we'll go and do sometimes, but we'll do it very aware.