Yes, it’s true the self proclaimed prophet of the media future, Jeff Jarvis, reveals something so devastating about his judgement in a recent postattacking the judgement of someone ten times smarter than he will ever be, the Times’ David Carr. He, Jeff Jarvis when thinking to name a favorite piece of music that he wants to listen only to the original of, chooses Billy Joel’s Allentown!
I’m not making this up. Here’s how he puts it: “If I can’t get Allentwon the original, I’m not likely to settle for a cover.”
(Yes, and with so many brilliant covers to choose from.)
Yes, because it’s such a brilliant song, by such a brilliant artist, who could possibly approach such Jarvis-level genius? Or maybe there’s a hidden guilty message here: since it’s a song about unemployment which Jarvis revels in. when it happens to hardworking newspapermen and their families, since it “proves” his thesis that any idiot can do reporting for free. Do his students know they’re being taught by someone whose idea of musical greatness is Billy Joel? Doesn’t that alone forever disqualify him from making pronoucements about culture and “content”?
It certainly makes sense though in a way. The medicority in his thinking and his musical taste is consistent. And here is someone who wants to tell us about the future of “content”.!
it just me feel even more strongly about everything I said in this post about Jarvis as a media guru. Yeah Jeff, gotta have the original of Allentown! Nothing less will do for our age’s media guru. I’m already hearing things about his book What Would Google Do?. I can’t wait to review it. Objectively, of course,
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