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Elitist Knowledge Shares: Falling to the Wayside

The walls are coming down. Or at least there are rumors of cracks. It should be happening any moment now. While we wait, let’s consider recent rumblings.

The New York Times’ TimeSelect, a subscription only platform that provides access to archived content as well as popular opinion pieces, is rumored to be going public. Unpopular with many and heavily criticized for “locking up so much content, particularly opinion pieces by well-known writers,” it would behoove TimeSelect to open its gates and share many of its talented and well-known writers with the rest of its non-paying, but faithful readers.

Wired.com’s Scott Gilberton lamented about closed nature of open networks, like Facebook and Myspace, calling for the web-programming community to build a “new framework based on open standards.” Ideally, he wants a platform that allows “micro social networks within the larger network of the web.”

The Wall Street Journal reported on rules approved Tuesday by the FCC “for its coming auction of radio spectrum set aside a portion of those airwaves for wireless networks that allow customers to use any mobile device, not just those approved by the network owner.”

Such a ruling will surely speed the development of new browsers used to ease surfing on the Web and encourage wireless carriers to open up Internet use for customers.

These substantive rumblings, all in the same week, can’t be just hype, can they?

A social networking, open source revolution has begun. Each one of these cracks in the wall indicates a growing need to connect, collaborate and converge with the wide world. As the Web grows generation by generation, it shows that it is no longer content to network within exclusive, smaller communities.