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Saturday 25 April 2015

Digital Renaissance

There's a new term Renaissance Millennial and I think that there is some weight to it. If the renaissance was sparked through books and the invention of the mechanical typeset printing press then what might the internet do? Our cultural does seem to be moving to a new era, The renaissance however developed over a period of 200 years and the internet has only been here for around 25. The world is now covered in information transferring cables not to mention Google balloons. People have access to information from all parts of the world. Its clear that there must be a lot more change to come. With digital currency this Digital Renaissance that we are already seeing is amplified.

In developing countries closer connections will other parts of the world make a big difference. Recently starving protesters in the Ukraine where able to get aid, in the form of Bitcoin sent directly to them, simply by holding up printed pages with their bitcoin QR codes in front of international news cameras. Digital-currency also puts developing countries on an equal playing field with the rest of the world. This counts for economic stability and for financial infrastructure. With smart phones now more common than indoor plumbing, people in undeveloped places can use their phones as international eftpos machines. People who once couldn't get to a bank in a days walk are now able to set up for free and sell things all over the world, independently. This non-corporate international trade will reduce poverty and create a more financially balanced world.

This goes hand in hand with spreading education. People can educate themselves using the internet and now new occupations are appearing all over the world. Anything that can be done over the internet can now be paid for quickly and easily. Translating and editing blogs, computer programing, web design, recording and even commissioning of art. Just check out freelancer.com to see some of the possibilities.

The freelance, crowd fund and donation based economy has been on the rise for a while. This is in part due to necessity. Artistic copyrights have and been almost destroyed by the internet and in the wake of this companies like Spotify are further cutting the royalties that recording musicians are receiving. Artist that once were making a good living on record contracts are now finding that most of there air plays go through international corporations and that the fee's generated are much less than before. Google adsence payments for online content providers are also quite small. With Bitcoin, artists can easily get payed directly. Rock stars can even transparently show how rich and or poor they are so we can decide weather to support them or not. We just need to be proactive about who we support. In this way digital-currency is a catalyst for up and coming international artist and fair wealth distribution.

In our local real world amongst the birds and the tree, its also a great way to tip buskers and show appreciation. This all simply from the fact that there's no need to keep your account number secret. You no longer need to put a hat out and watch over it carefully. Easy micro payments make anything monetisable anywhere. you don't need to man a till. You just need to display a QR code. Bitcoin even works when away from the net and out of cell reception service by using bluetooth. These existing features allow large transactions to be made on the top of a mountain or simply whilst on the run. Because you don't need to carry a special hardware with you, it makes working much more mobile.

Few would deny the impact of the internet over the last few decades. With money specifically designed for the internet do we get a Digital Renaissance?  Digital money/Crypto-currency or whatever you like to call it very p[programmable and I feel we may find big developments in unexpected places. The Dogerain app for example , can 'make it rain' Dogecoin (digitally) on anyone who's in the room with you. Pretty fun and, it is intended to be satirical hip hop video application for nerdy crypto parties. But if you consider this in a different light it could perform completely different function.  An employer could simply run this app in their office to pay staff. Certainly reduces paper work and argument over hours. It would make a great model for an art collective or not for profit, with all earning simply going into the Dogerain reservoir. These are all seem like far out ideas now but there are people who are into that.

One click payments are big advantage offered by Bitcoin. I am so bored of entering my credit card details into machines and I don't think I'm alone. With Bitcoin it is even possible for purchasing payments to be made automatic. This could save a little time and mundane math and more importantly it could also enhance the buyer experience. Imagine being able to shop and entertain yourself without actually having to physically cue up and make transactions. All you would do was enable the app, set a limit and let blue tooth do the rest.

Simple tools fundamentally change the way we do things. But it's not only the new freedom of value that's provided by the tools, it's the vibe of it. Some people feel that money is evil. This view is prevalent with artist, musicians and authors. There is a sense of greed, corruption and a lack of transparency associated with the current value system. Bitcoin has had its ups and downs in the past, but Bitcoin allows total transparency. This in tern can help us repress greed and corruption much more effectively than before.

The current financial system also doesn't work well for artists because their appeal is less tangible than normal products and there audience can be more international or more dispersed. Efforts are often gouged by corporate intermediaries or are simply offered for free. I think our cultural icons deserve more.  In the future, with the right guidance our value system can be a more in touch with society. The internet helps people connect with information and can now even out wealth more effectively with digital currency. This allows us to create something new with the world. and change the way we do things.  This Digital Renaissance wont be just limited to Europe. It will be in India, South East Asia, China, Africa and South America. That's a whole lot of Lianardoes and Donatellos.



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