<nettime> Re: TBTF: eToys pays in market cap for bullying etoy

[Guy Yasko <gyasko@bootsy.arts.mcgill.ca>]

>> Declan McCullagh <declan@wired.com> writes:

DM> I'm hardly interested in the type of formal proof that would
DM> satisfy a mathematician. But folks who follow the market would
DM> readily accept the events I cited (analyst ratings, increased
DM> competition, slow growth) as adequate explanations of the drop.

DM> You are backing a novel interpretation. For that you need a bit
DM> more proof than an I'd-like-it-to-be-so hunch. Correlation does
DM> not equal casuation, remember, and I'd say the etoys.com legal win
DM> probably boosted their stock price instead.

yeah, but "correlation does not equal casuation, remember."  in the
end there's no more conclusive proof for your explanation than any
other.  that's why you rely on the authority of "folks who follow
the market" for the force of your argument.  i gather we're to
assume with you that these musings should automatically carry more
weight simply by dint of their origins.

i know it's standard journalistic practice these days to set oneself
up as a conduit between supposedly authoritative sources of
information and the public, but i don't buy it.  this style of
journalism depends on the public accepting its hierarchy of knowledge
and power, subtly propagating the legitimacy of such hieararchies in
the process.  of course, the flip side to this is that ordinary people
and ordinary knowledge just don't matter.  there need be no conspiracy
for this to happen.  the "synergistic" effects of cuts in news staff,
corporate and government secrecy, the pressure of deadlines, and the
journalistic ethos of "neutrality" all contribute to this
authoritarianism.

underneath the rhetoric of "empowerment," today's media constantly
tells us to cast out the rebelliousness in our hearts and admit our
powerless before "market forces" and "progress.."  i know that's what
i'm supposed to do when i read media product these days, but i guess
i'm just too ungrateful to cooperate.  sorry.

g.y.

-- 
Guy Yasko -- gyasko@po-box.mcgill.ca

Used staples are good with SOY SAUCE!

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