Democratizing everything

If you've been reading any blogs or watching any television news for the last couple of months or so, you've seen or heard stories about how amateurs (bloggers) have been spontaneously self-organizing and outfoxing, outreporting and just plain outthinking the professional media. Now Fast Company is carrying an article contending that the journalism industry is not alone. In many fields, "committed, networked amateurs working to professional standards" are changing the state of things as we know them.

As others have stated before, this hardly means the end of professional groups and industries. Professionals in any field still have the edge over amateurs when it comes to resources, education and expertise; they are the ones who lay the foundations that the amateurs can work from. However, the advent of cheap, readily available technology has allowed armchair journalists, astronomers and others to take an active and vital role in scientific and human progress. (Via Slashdot)