Musings about a paper and paperless world…

I write this on a piece of paper while I am traveling by train in the Netherlands. I am thinking of the fact that if I would write this in the pre-Internet era, perhaps I would write about mostly the same things but where would it then go from there?

I would not have a distribution platform like the Internet with the potential audience of many, the “home” like a website, the speed with which it is “out there”, the way it can stay in the cloud and picked up from anywhere. The list goes on.

Can I challenge myself and think of how I would spread my word? Pass a notebook around a group of people who would be interested, bundle all my stories and get a publishing deal (book) or get in touch with the newspapers and arrange a column. Would I ever get the idea that other people may be interested?

Everyday people can do anything they want now; create and distribute. It is part of the way people think and act nowadays. Such an empowerment. Were people limited before?

Though there are critics. Some people say they are for example not interested in hearing what you had for breakfast. But it is a choice whether you are reading and opting in for information. In that sense you are also empowered to say no. As opposed to being fed information with no alternatives. Other avenues have emerged but the processes remain.

Some things I have noticed on my train ride so far: a fox hunting on the meadow, clear blue sky but massive cloud hanging over high in the sky above heavy industry, some conversations I could not resist listening into.

Thanks for choosing to listen to this one!