January 09, 2003
Fear the metadata?
How is it the 'old guard' of any form of media take a generally dismissive attitude when anyone suggests ways to make it easier to find stuff?
Perhaps it's ego driven. If the stuff is easy to find how will the pundits justify their existence? They're apparently terribly afraid that if the data speaks for itself that nobody will need them anymore. What arrogance.
I'm reminded of a wonderful passage in Umberto Eco's novel "Foucalt's Pendulum". Where he advances a series of conspiracies and theories all linked by a magic set of numbers; the audience is riveted with how interwoven the numerology is with their pet conspiracy theories. That is until the source of those numbers is nothing more than the dimensions of a telephone box just outside the building. Proving what? That if you know the source you'll see through the bullshit.
So what if there's tons of metadata applied to a feed or a web page! The more data the merrier. Somewhere in all that stuff will be the truth. This most certainly terrifies the people that consider themselves the fonts of all wisdom. Take a close look at who's telling you metadata is a bad thing. Ask youselves, if you could find the data without them would you do it?
We won't know until we try.
