Stephen Downes

What I want to highlight in this article is the argument that concludes, "We are likely to undervalue the importance, viability and productive power of open systems, open networks and non-proprietary production," cited from James Boyle, who offered it last August. The context here is the New Zealand curriculum review (and its idiculous process of asking for 150 word comments in neat little boxes) but it is a tendency I have seen over and over again, whether it be in the construction of repositories, identification systems, metadata design, and more. Despite all the lessons we have been taught, it seems that whenever we get together to plan something, we tend toward the closed (and therefore incorrect) solution.