There’s a risk of making a fetish of process over product, of the act of collaboration over the artifact that results from it. How important is it that a product was produced through an open, distributed network if, in the end, it serves the interests of the status quo? If it’s just another widget, another distraction, an added value that some giant conglomerate can take advantage of, as in some cases of crowdsourcing? Does open collaboration serve a purpose or is it more like a drum circle, way more fun and interesting for the participants than for those who are forced to listen to it?
Excellent and provoking question from Collaborative Futures, the 2010 transmediale book sprint project. We’re almost done writing this year’s book, An Open Web. Wondering if we can work that line in somewhere…
