[Google Fast Flip] Dear Rupert Murdoch: Here’s Some Free Online Content That You Don’t Own
Dear Rupert Murdoch: Here’s Some Free Online Content That You Don’t Own
BY Kit Eaton Today It’s okay, Mr. Murdoch. We think we finally understand why you hate Google and the Net so much–you gave it away in your rant during News Corp.’s finances: It’s because you really don’t get technology–or people–very much. I’m referencing a little aside the news industry billionaire made during a conference call about News Corporation’s second quarter earnings yesterday. On the subject of tablet PCs (clearly driven by all the news of Apple’s iPad,) e-readers and smartphones, Murdoch admitted these devices were a growing phenomenon. But he then immediately launched a venomous attack on the technology, denouncing the gizmos as lifeless “empty vessels.” His argument is that without content, the hoard of tablets and e-readers and smartphones are dead things, useless and un-engaging. “Content isn’t just King anymore but rather the emperor of all things electronic,” and though larger flat-screen devices are an advance, without content they’ll remain “unloved and unsold.” What you’re referring to, Rupert, is, of course, your content: That’s what you think we should be viewing on these devices. “Undercover” reports on what it’s like to visit the country’s first legal ma…
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