Thoughts on Lessig Chapters 3-5

The part about these chapters of Lessig that I found the most interesting was the paragraph or so about being free to read what we want, when we want, but not necessarily being able to do the same thing with regards to television and movies.

I think this statement is interesting because, somewhat recently, reading books has become even easier to do. With the release of e-readers, people who enjoy reading can now sit down in their favorite, comfy chair, skim through a seemingly endless list of book choices, purchase their chosen book without moving from their chair, and begin reading it almost instantly. In my opinion, reading is one of the most easily accessible hobbies that one can have. Though e-readers aren't necessarily cheap, once you have purchased one, you no longer have to travel to a bookstore where you will pay more for the book you're wanting to read.

These chapters also mention iTunes and how it was very important in helping to save the music industry by making digital copies of recordings available for a price and also making them in a format that would not allow for them to be reproduced and shared. I think that iTunes is for music, television, and movies what e-readers are for books and magazines. Instant access for a smaller fee without having to leave your home is the reality for people in the 21st century.

I think that my blog post is loosely related to Lessing's idea of community.

Community is the idea that there are countless numbers of groups in the world that can be based on any number of combinations of grouping tactics.

People who own and use e-readers are a community, people who create free content for e-readers are a community, readers in general are a community. These communities have been formed based on a common appreciation for something and in this case it happens that they were formed over an appreciation for a type of media and/or a format to access that media. The people who create free content for e-readers as well as the people who leave a comment on the page of a book about their opinion on it are all creating a certain type of media.