Anne Zelenka counters Nick Carr's pessimism

Nick Carr seems to thrive on controversy. His 2004 book asked Does IT Matter?. (My answer: yes.) In April 2005, he joined the blogosphere with Rough Type, sometimes gaining grudging respect.

His latest book is now out. The Big Switch: Rewiring the World, from Edison to Google. The theme: "Cheap computing will ultimately change society as profoundly as cheap electricity did."

Today at GigaOM, Anne Zelenka posted a detailed and well-sourced reply to one of Carr's arguments:

He suggests that the switch to utility computing — also sometimes known as grid-based or cloud computing — will shrink the workforce, lead to increasing income inequality, and destroy the middle class.

Er, no, it won't. Haven't people gotten tired of the scare-mongering about technology and jobs? Yes, changes are often painful, but that's a far cry from shrinking the workforce. My favorite of many contemporary examples: look at all the employment related to mobile phones, which is a relatively new technology. How about GPS?

Zelenka points out a key benefit of cheap computing and the ongoing social media revolution:

It used to be that if you wanted to have your writing published, you'd need to have a job with a newspaper or magazine. Now anyone can publish their writing on blogs. It used to be if you wanted to have thousands of people watch your films, you'd have to get lucky in Hollywood. Now you can upload your video to YouTube. It used to be if you wanted to become a radio talkshow host, you had to convince a radio station to give you airtime. Now you can record your own podcast.

Read the whole thing for details, including links to "one of the most influential living legal theorists and a major voice in the law and economics movement" (who happens to be a blogger).