Someone at dinner yesterday said to me: "Reading is becoming a privilege." The rest of the dinner

[snot]

56. Another tendency that I believe to be evidenced by history

is that soon after the new tech appears, the resultant increased sharing of info and ideas leads to aan efflorescence of helpful innovation. At some point after that, TPTB recognize the tech as having undermined their control over the flows of info and the available profits therefrom, and they set about getting control over it, monopolizing it to gradually increasing degrees.

So prior to the Gutenberg press, info flows were tightly controlled, but with the press's invention, info sharing erupted, and suddenly non-elites could read the Bible and other texts for themselves; the Reformation and a slew of other inventions and creative efforts ensued. Gradually, albeit through various ups and downs in variouos parts of the world, TPTB managed to monopolize most print and other media, to the point that by some time in the 2000's, 95% of all traditional media worldwide had come under the control of just 6 megacorporations.

Meanwhile, of course, the internet arose. Again, elites didn't immediately recognize the threat it posed to their hegemony, and we had another brief golden era of productive exchange of info and ideas; but elites soon leapt into action and are steadily gaining control over what we're able to see and share there.

A mini version of this pattern happened after the first consumer-grade, hand-held video cameras were invented, giving rise to a spurt of important citizen journalism as well as exciting new artistic creations; and of course, cell phones have had a somewhat similar effect.

As for the need for copyright and other protections for creators, I totally agree but would point out that while such laws are necessary, they've been extended to ridiculous, counter-productive durations. Also, even though the new techs may make copying easier, they've also made it easier for creators to sell directly to the public and avoid ceding exorbitant proportions of the rewards for their efforts to middlemen.