“…Doing so means posting our works on the world wide web so that anyone, anywhere, at any

time can have access to them. In this way, we will ensure that our work exists.”

If a tree falls in the woods and no one sees it does it make a noise? If no one reads/see your

academic or professional work (and arguably your personal work, your artistic work) does it

exist? Can things exist inside a vacuum? If knowledge or ideas are not shared, that is unable to

be passed from one person to another and carried on to further social circles, cultural circles,

economic circles, etc., do those ideas die? Does an idea have to be shared in order to have a

life; must it be shared on the internet?

“UbuWeb embraces the distributive possibilities inherent in the web’s original technologies: call

it radical forms of distribution.”

What is the purpose of the internet; is it still to be a radical platform to share information or has it

mutated and become more commercially driven (broadband, access, cost, government control

vs. control in the hand of people vs. control in the hands of corporations are all things one

should consider when answering)?

“But we are in a unique position — I’d call it a privileged position — to be able to give our work

away, ensuring that it exists.”

“Can you imagine taking a laptop to the beach to read an e-book? Not yet. But it will happen. So

for the time being, our books need to have an online counterpart which extends, updates or in

some way acts as a corollary agent to the paper edition.”

This paper was published in 2005, ten years ago. One needs to consider if the points it makes

are still as relevant today as they were ten years ago because people do take e-readers to the

beach now. What has changed in the online climate since Goldsmith published this paper? In

what ways has [academic] information become more available to the public because of the

internet. Has it? (Google books) Or is it become closer to the Barnes and Noble example

Goldsmith gives, that what is available is narrow, or the online purchasing examples, only

available to those who can shell out for it?

“But almost everyone has access to the web (and if not now, they soon will). From this stems

numerous opportunities.”

Is this true or the position of someone who lives in a privileged position who has nearly unlimited

internet access?

“Older media needs to be digitized in order to exist.”

How does the reemergence and popularity of analog products like records or instant film fit into

this idea? Goldsmith addresses vinyl records specifically but the climate ten years ago

regarding the subject is different. The Impossible Project, which was successful was the

initiative to start producing Polaroid film again after production ceased. Nowadays when you

walk into any Urban Outfitters you can purchase a pack of Polaroid film, a distinctly analog

product that does not exist online. However the roots of The Impossible Project are online. I

remember signing a petition to show my support for the project in high school. The support and

success of the project probably would not have been possible without the internets ability to

make the project accessible to millions of people; much more than the bubble of photographers

and enthusiasts who originally started the endeavor. Or take fujifilm instax cameras and film,

another instant but different film project. I work at a summer camp and two years ago I was the

only person who knew of or owned such a camera. Last year it was myself and one 14 year old

girl. This summer, in 2015, several campers, ages ranging between 13-18 owned such cameras

and utilized them daily. And it can be argued that girls that age have real buying and market

power (think of the wild success of things girls that age support — Twilight, The Hunger Games,

etc.,) so it’s not a niche group, as I was in 2013 with my fujifilm camera as a photographer who

lived primarily in New York City. These analog products are having a moment again and for so

many people they do exist, they are real. They are real and live in conjunction with their digital

counterparts. Instagram posts of polaroid pictures are seen everywhere. Records are now sold

with coupons for digital copies. Is this the future of analog and digital, a world where the two can

coexist simultaneously, each with their merits and short comings, in a symbiotic relationship?

All quotations come from Kenneth Goldsmith’s online article “If It Doesn’t Exist On The Internet, It Doesn’t Exist”