The Web Goes on Forever
It shows how out of the mainstream I am that I stumbled upon the Live Earth global concert extravaganza pretty much by accident Saturday night. I tuned in to the live concert stream via the Live Earth MSN site, and though I was viewing the feed in lowly Safari (yes, some people still use it!), I was able to catch some (to may tastes "underwhelming") performances. I'm an old fuddy-duddy, music-wise.
Live Earth, "The Concerts for a Climate in Crisis," were far more interesting to me in concept then in reality. Billed by its promoters as an event that "that will bring together more than 100 music artists and 2 billion people to trigger a global movement to solve the climate crisis," it apparently set a new record "by generating more than 9 million Internet streams." Even if that number fell short of the billions promised, it is still impressive and highlights the "world-wide-ness" of the web. Before the web, ubiquitous broadband, etc., the idea of a global concert actively viewed by millions would have been impossible. Now it's yesterday's news.
Even more fascinating than the global reach of the web, however, is its long temporal arm (or tail, as some would have it). The record broken by Live Earth had been set by Live8, which found that the majority of its streaming traffic, to the tune of 100 million streams, came during the six weeks after the event. Accordingly, the Live Earth folk expect 80% of their traffic to be post-hoc.
The fact that this live event will enjoy an extended lifespan thanks to the web, and that in fact 80% of its life will take place there, illustrates one way that web-based projects never-end. This point was made quite articulately by Gerry McGovern the other day in an essay he posted with the catchy title, "The Web is messy." It is the temporal open-endedness of the web that makes it messy. It goes on forever! A website is not like a commercial or a brochure that is completed and sent to make its merry way in the world. It is more literally like a living place that is changed by its visitors and occupants and must evolve to meet their needs and expectations.
As any parent can tell you - living things are pretty messy. Live events are as well - just ask the folks who had to clean up after the concert-goers on Saturday. Indeed, Live Earth was criticized for the energy required to put on the actual concerts, especially given the fact that some performers (referred to as, " The artists formerly known as huge carbon footprints," by Marina Hyde in The Guardian) flew private jets "halfway across the world to play," as the New York Times reported.
Is the next step for "green" activism a totally web-based, non-stop musical experience? Why not create a virtual, streaming concert made up of great live footage from bands of yesteryear? Wait, wait, I got it. How about "Second Live Earth"?
Image courtesy of DataAngel.
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