Al Gore doesn't understand the power of the Internet. I know it's harsh to say that about the father of the Internet, but it's true.
How do I know this, you ask? Just look at the promotion of his new blockbuster "An Inconvenient Truth". It's traditional old school media with your basic run-of-the-mill website. Rather than audio and video access through iTunes, YouTube, or TiVo, he directs individuals to select theaters (I can't even access a theater from his website to buy the tickets online.). Instead of being able to download the book or PowerPoint presentation, he's got nifty ecards, jazzy desktop images, cute little screensavers. The power of the Internet is letting anyone produce (possibly useful) content and distribute it in when I want it, where I want it, and how I want it. Even Hollywood is finally starting to figure that out.
If Gore really understood the power of the Internet, he'd leverage the widest array of available (and often free) resources to distribute his message to get maximum exposure for the broadest array of individuals and companies. He might even go interactive -- possibly a virtual world where we interact and simulate various envonmental conditions or an networked, interactive shoot-em up game where teams of environmental commandos raid earth-bound polluters. Who know, he might even let us select whichever earth destroying capitalist or Bambi hugging environmentalist we'd like to vote off the planet. The ultimate planet survivor. Even I might logon for that!
p.s. I thought about including the link to Gore's website, but what's the point?
That's OK. He's in good company with all the other politicians in Washington who don't understand the Internet either.
Posted by: Pete Ashdown | July 28, 2006 at 12:27 PM
He is in very good company, unfortunately.
I'm still surprised that for a topic that is so important to Gore that he is taking such a traditional, restricted approach to get out his message.
Posted by: John Dougall | July 28, 2006 at 07:22 PM