Though the Web, same as everywhere, has been a friendly petri dish for corporate ventures, its flexibility eagerly welcomes the Individual. Computer technology was conceived by Individuals, sometimes funded by institutions... but Individuals nonetheless. And they cleverly programmed our new machines to accept the stamp of any individual who operated them (to be, in essence, subordinate to any human master).
While the computers are still our slaves (though some may argue), we bear the responsibility of becoming benevolent masters. This will prolong our dominion.
The rise of the human Individual, which will eventually balance out the classes, is the basic goal to which this page is dedicated. The Mind Mined website presents a platform for people to express themselves in words, images, or sounds. We limit it to those media based on the state of technology at the moment.
What specific advantages does the Web offer Individuals? First and foremost, there's more room here. Microtechnology means there is enough space for someone to write their own Tolstoy and offer it to any personal computer user in the world. (The current user statistics aren't necessary since in a century or two computers will be comparable to clothes).
Space is indeed the final frontier, and we shouldn't let the immense challenge of the "outer" discourage us from exploring the inner. Each webpage is a newly discovered moon for the Individual to plant a flag on. The only difference is, the moon is created.
The idea of creation deserves some attention. Programmers agree that the most difficult software to write would be that which renders a computer creative. It hasn't been done yet and most Individuals hope it won't; machines would rob us of our last truly human skill. Before the "if and when" of that discovery, computers will serve as vehicles for our creativity. Creativity itself will be the only sign of "life" in cyberspace... the secret handshake of the master organic race.
Therefore I will assert that webpages designed to promote creativity (whether to feature it or to help you find it) are genetically-correct, if we are (for now) in favor of the dominance of DNA-based "life." Future affiliations may depend on how benevolently creative our emerging masters prove to be.
That is all, admittedly, a view of distant horizons. But the prescription it suggests for the present is a call to all artists. The Mind Mined Website was born of artistic excitement. The urge to communicate is too often aborted by the lack of an audience. The Web is a stage to mount that can be seen from people's homes, and unlike today's television you can "tune in" to anyone's station. Think of this page as a tiny Public Broadcasting Service for independent producers, if you like the television analogy. Get Web TV if you want to see it, get a computer if you want to be it.
Right now we are a publishing house, a record store, and an art gallery. Enjoy our output, contribute your input, and long live humanity. Something good will come out of all of this.
