I was told I had about 2 minutes to introduce our next keynote speaker Douglas Rushkoff and his presentation entitled “Open Source Reality:  Transcending Life in the Matrix.”  Upon inspecting Douglas’s scholarship there is no way in the world I can do justice to this eclectic and brilliant man in merely a couple of minutes.  But I will try my best.  To be quite frank, I have never heard of Douglas Rushkoff until I was offered the invitation to introduce his presentation today.  Serving as a moderator, I thought it crucial to become familiar with his research, in addition to trying to learn something of the man behind the name.  So, I immediately went to his website and was surprised by the breadth of his research, published scholarship and high accolades, which span more than a decade. 

In brief, Douglas is the author of seven books and several articles on new media and popular culture, including Cyberia, Media Virus, Playing the Future, the novel Ecstasy Club, and his newest book, Coercion: Why We Listen to What "They" Say.  Lauded as cultural critic, Spike e-zine considers Douglas one of the leading authorities on the impact of the information age on popular culture.  New Perspectives Quarterly, dubs him "the brilliant heir to McLuhan."  Although, not without controversy, Salon calls him the “Faith Popcorn of his generation, boosting youth trends with pop slogans of dubious validity.”  Youth trends that he has been criticized for selling-out to advertisers during his stint as a consultant.  However, this has not marred Doug’s image.  This summer alone he is in high demand, touring globally at conferences and universities, lecturing about media, society, and change.  Douglas also writes for numerous magazines and newspapers, including The Guardian, Esquire and is a syndicated columnist for the New York Times, with his discussion of cyberculture appearing in over thirty countries. He does regular radio commentary and television appearances on shows including Larry King and Politically Incorrect. He is also a professor of media culture at New York University's Interactive Telecommunications Program.  And, lastly, he lives right here in the East Village.

But, you know, I could go on, but my two minutes are almost up. If you want more visit his website at www.rushkoff.com.  Because what I found most intriguing is the evolution of his ideas concerning the human communications renaissance, as Doug describes it – an evolution that brings us to his discussion today. 

After reading an indepth interview with Douglas, published in the Edge 10/99 it was clear that his initial tehno-utopianism inspired by Barlow and McKenna was waning to a degree.  In the beginning, as discussed in Cyberia, he viewed new media as means for people to initiate a more positive and thoughtful cultural evolution because it was free of the kinds of legal and business pressures that restrict more mainstream and broadcast media. However, as cyberspace took on the appearance of a shopping catalogue, Doug’s views became much more critical.  These opinions were exacerbated during a presentation for the 4 A’s  (American Association of Advertising Agencies).  He thought he was there to talk about his book media virus, youth culture and how the era of advertising was over.  To his surprise, he observed signs and handouts entitled, How to use Media Viruses to Capture New Audiences.  Instead of his books engendering an audience of hackers and virtual homesteaders, he was educating corporate heads on how to initiate a more coercive form of advertising online.  His nascent ideas of cyberspace promoting a counter-culture in a mediaspace open and free of censorship have been complicated.  Doug now sees “browser wars” vying for the ability to control what we think about.  At this moment in time in the bottom line for Doug is that the Internet has become a privatized zone with an altogether more insidious form of censorship. 

And, on that note, I will now introduce one of the leading authorities on the impact of the information age on popular culture and brilliant heir to McLuhan . . . Douglas Rushkoff and his presentation “Open Source Reality:  Transcending Life in the Matrix.”  Let’s give him a warm MEA welcome.