Hard to Handle

Chapter 10 examines the explosion of choice that has emerged from the economics of overabundance. As consumers we are faced with an overwhelming variety of options when it comes to making a purchase. Anderson argues that more choice is better as long as we have information to go along with such vast supply. However, he also suggests that just because we have more variety doesn’t mean we are buying more. (e.g.  Anderson notes, “As early as 2006, Apple had sold 42 million iPods and 1 billion tracks on iTunes, for an average of twenty-four tracks per iPod over the nearly four years the iTunes music store had been in business”). Although the assumption is made that more variety leads to more sales, there is insufficient evidence to support this conclusion. Data does reveal that when a significant decision needs to be made, more is better, on the premise that one will have a better chance at finding what they are looking for. (Discover more about the lure of choice). Regarding the long tail phenomenon, Anderson claims that digital distribution has improved sales by quickly exposing customers to a wider variety which in turn directs attention down the tail.

 

Chapter 11 focuses on the niche cultures that thrive in a long tail world. The chapter demonstrates this concept through the rise of house music. DJs in the early 80s armed with cheap tools of production were able to deliver distinctive musical creations to their club-going audience by remixing beats. The DJs served as aggregators of the transformed beats while simultaneously providing a platform for the hyperspecialized music to be broadcast on. Another important theme in this chapter is the move from an “or” to an “and” culture. The mainstream doesn’t need to compete with the niche cultures. Instead, the two can coexist because our culture is now a hybrid of both the head and tail (i.e. hits and niches). Anderson asserts limitless choice ensures ultimate fragmentation. However, he insists this move from the general to specific doesn’t suggest an end to the established power structure. According to Anderson, we are experiencing the rise of a massively parallel culture.

 

Chapter 12 tries to envision the future of television by exploring how the Internet (and services like Google video) has challenged the medium’s presence. Anderson points out that broadcast networks can exploit the potential of these influential tools by using them as “a storefront for their archives, or just a place to host teasers of upcoming shows.” Anderson also believes television is the likeliest candidate of all traditional mass media to be affected by the power of the long tail forces. The Internet continues to transform our culture by delivering us ubiquitous choices that we may (or may not) know how to handle.           

Down on Main Street

Chapter 7 of “The Long Tail” discusses the power of online word of mouth and how this force is altering the marketplace and companies business models. We are in an era of radical change where individuals trust each other more (at least when it comes to consumer choices).  Peer to peer opinion trumps mass media’s force-fed schemes. Anderson describes how the collective now controls the message, which produces an enigma: how to drive demand in this kind of environment? Chapter 7 is also devoted to outlining different techniques Anderson offers as solutions. As consumers we have been conditioned to “buy” into a hit driven economy, but that premise is rapidly changing. Scholars doing research in this area coined the term “referral web” to express how the Internet gives people the authority to tap into networks to help make decisions. Word of mouth, recommendation systems, and collaborative filtering are influential resources that increasingly guide and assist consumer purchases. Technology has shifted the balance of power. Anderson’s message focuses on the economics of abundance and how the long tail’s backbone of unlimited selection produces changes in consumer consumption. The way producers market goods and services is also changing in an attempt to garner consumer attention.

 

Chapter 8 dives into the economics of the long tail and focuses more on the concepts of scarcity, abundance, powerlaw distributions and the slow extinction of the 80/20 Rule (Pareto’s Law). Anderson used a helpful analogy to describe the difference between the short head and the long tail. The “carrying capacity” (or available positions) in the short head is limited. However, the niches in the long tail are endless…and also endlessly ignored by the commercial mainstream. The 80/20 Rule simply suggests that 20 percent of x accounts for 80 percent of y. The most obvious manifestation of this is when 20 percent of products account for 80 percent of the revenues. Anderson points out serious flaws to the 80/20 Rule: it’s never exactly 80/20, the percentages account for different things which means they don’t need to add up to 100, and there’s also no standard convention on how to express the relationship. This relates to the long tail phenomenon because long tail economics challenge the basic assumptions of 80/20. Anderson explains that in the long tail “products may not account for most of the sales, but because they’re often cheaper to acquire, they can be very profitable, as long as inventory costs are kept close to zero” (p 134).  The point is while the 80/20 rule still exists it has lost it’s traction in the long tail market.  Chapter 8 concludes with Anderson’s attempts at answering questions that came up during his explanation of long tail economics.

 

Chapter 9 explores the short head— an area of the graph that as Anderson quips “like it or not, is here to stay.” Anderson posits that cities are the long tail of urban space because dense populations help foster concentrated demands. The reason, as urban theorist Jane Jacobs claims, is because large cities produce environments where niches can thrive.  Specialist stores with unique collections are overwhelming dwarfed by big chain stores. Anderson describes this as the Wal-Mart effect. The seemingly overabundance of choice in Wal-Mart is quite deceiving, because while the mega-store appears to be a warehouse of unlimited supply this is not the case.  Wal-Mart’s shelves are guided by the commercial mainstream which lacks the depth of niches. The chapter concludes with the dangers of “hitism” and a prologue to the delusion of “too much choice” a topic which will be discussed in more detail in chapter 10.

 

Hinchliffe’s piece discusses the rise of social media (blogs, wikis, and other participatory media) as a result of the Internet. Hinchliffe argues in favor of the democratizing power of these tools. He praises their ability to connect people and enable anyone to join the conversation. Although, time and access are two requirements for joining the wealth of networks that exist online. He boldly argues that “social media platforms are the most powerful form of media yet created.” The article deconstructs the emergence and rise of mass social media and its ability to fuel bottom-up influence by shifting institutional control to the hands of the consumer. Social media has contributed to the grassroots revolution that continues to impact the way we do business. Some of the players may be the same but the rules have changed.            

Chimes of Freedom

“Come gather round people wherever you roam and admit that the waters around you have grown and admit that soon you’ll be drenched to the bone. If your time to you is worth saving, then you better start swimming or you’ll sink like a stone. For the times they are a changing.” BOB DYLAN

 

 

In Chapter 4 Chris Anderson reveals the basic assumption behind the theory of the long tail: a cultural economic shift from mainstream to narrow niche markets spurred by the growth of Internet use and emergent technologies. However, Anderson keenly admits that the long tail’s postulate isn’t that simple. The scheme revolves around the complex economics of supply and demand. This is because niche existence is only half of the equation. The other component is desire, measured by the audience’s want. Put another way, it’s one thing for there to be niche markets, and it’s another thing to have an audience that flocks to them. Naturally, this process produces forces that create the long tail. These driving strengths are summarized by Anderson as “make it, get it out there, and help me find it.” The democratizing tools of production enable the power to “make it.” Consequently, the democratizing tools of distribution “get it out there” and the connection of supply and demand using aggregators “help me find it.”

 

Chapter 5 discusses the Pro-Am era where Anderson boldly breaks down the barriers between amateurs and professionals; even admitting the two beings work on a leveler playing field, not equal (yet) but not as foreign as previously conceived.  These “amateurs” actually serve to not only assist professionals but at the same time keep them in check since their proletarian eyes are scrutinizing big media’s every move. This chapter reviews another topic we’ve dutifully given our undivided attention to: open source. Anderson cites Wikipedia as open source in its purest form. Another key idea behind this example is the argument of how the many can be smarter than the few, and how order can be created from chaos. Peer production is beneficial since it is driven by volunteers fueled by desired (as evidenced through the Wikipedia phenomenon). The point is a transformation has occurred and a shift from “consumerism” to “producerism” is upon us. In other words, people who were once helpless passive consumers can now emerge as powerful active producers. As a result, these changes are altering our marketplace and economy. In an “exposure culture” reputation and attention are essential to success. In a centralized market monopolized by the operations of big corporations getting noticed seems impossible. However, with the blurring of professional and amateur lines combined with cheap tools for creativity, talent is distributed more widely. The result is an economy that supports participatory media and the collaborative idiosyncratic opportunities that these emerging dynamics maintain.

 

Chapter 6 of Anderson’s compelling book continues to dish about the economics of abundance that is enabled by the long tail effect of choice and availability. The new markets that have emerged owe a big thanks to the shared media ecosystem which developed from our information rich environment. To reiterate, the idea behind the long tail is that it deviates from the power rule. In terms of supply and demand, we are living in a period of over abundance sparked by the inception of the Internet. It can be likened to the “domino effect”: production is changing, so demand shifts, which affects supply, and consequently manipulates price. When discussing the reputation economy Anderson alludes to the end of inventory and the rise of a massively parallel culture. The book (from my understanding) is trying to trace the abundance of supply. Put simply, media scarcity is out and diversified abundance is in.  Attention is the limited resource that spearheads a “zero-sum game” over grappling consumer interest. Accordingly, money lies in aggregating the long tail, not simply by being in it. Thus, attention is the new currency and understanding the economic repercussions of content management is a must.

 

Jay Rosen contributes to the Pro-Am revolution in his article which deconstructs bloggers and journalists. According to Rosen, the bloggers vs. journalists debate is over. Rosen cites many professionals (one being tech journalist and our other book’s author Dan Gillmor) who have abandoned their well-respected posts to support a grassroots citizen-media approach. Also interesting to note is that although some big names didn’t feel compelled to desert their positions entirely, they did however modify them by taking up blogging and/or announcing plans to move toward a more democratic model at their current operations. The crux of Rosen’s article is emphasizing the equalizing potential of the Internet, highlighting the balance of power as a result of new technologies, and describing the effects of distributed, participatory, open source journalism and its implications for our culture. Rosen optimistically views this shift as a necessary freedom in our economy in which everything is up for grabs.    

 

 

“Come writers and critics who prophesize with your pen and keep your eyes wide the chance won’t come again. Don’t speak too soon for the wheel’s still in spin. There’s no telling who that it’s naming. For the loser now will later to win, for the times they are a changing.”

Long Train Running

Jay Rosen accentuates the role shift that has taken place in response to the web in his discussion of the “The People Formerly Known as the Audience”. His piece clearly outlines the revolution that is well underway. Move over big media. It’s time to make room for the little guy. One such allusion of innovative media technologies is providing people with powerful tools to speak out…(and hopefully be heard of course). Regardless, Rosen reminds traditional media, “You don’t own the eyeballs. You don’t own the press, which is now divided into pro and amateur zones. You don’t control production on the new platform, which isn’t one-way. There’s a new balance of power between you and us. The people formerly known as the audience are simply the public made realer, less fictional, more able, less predictable. You should welcome that, media people. But whether you do or not we want you to know we’re here”.

Now let’s look at Chapters 1-3 of “The Long Tail” by Chris Anderson.

Anderson echoes the cries of Gillmor and Battelle’s technologically driven arguments that business and culture are evolving as a result of the interactive web. The “Internet as platform” phenomenon has swept us (as both consumers and producers) off our feet, while offering the promise of a hopeful tomorrow in which some of the control of centralized mass media is lifted and freedom granted to the citizen. Our whole social world is dominated by applications that are being “architectured for participation.” The “Service as a Software” (SaaS) economy is in tow. The mind-blowing possibilities of the ubiquitous Internet have intrigued communication scholars and media critics alike, and now media convergence clouds an already hazy view of the future. Niche markets pack a powerful punch accelerating the seemingly limitless social implications of emergent technologies. The economics of abundance is upon us and unlimited selection is transforming tomorrow’s markets. The crux of this novel design is simple and can be summarized in the tagline of Anderson’s book: the future of business is selling less of more.

Life is not tried it is merely survived if you’re standing outside the fire

Chapter 10 sheds light on the shadowy side of the Internet. Gillmor explains defamation, libel and other legal issues that emerged as a result of net-based software and tools. The online sphere has given rise to other legal concerns including copyright, linking, jurisdiction, and liability for what others say on your site. Bloggers beware: this chapter cautions that anyone who regularly publishes content on the web should be insured or get insured to protect and defend against such occurrences. However, disseminating information online in the form of blogs does have its advantages. For example, your readers serve as an extra set of eyes to help catch mistakes and inaccuracies. This can be especially beneficial for those writers without personal editors. Misuse is another hazy area that has developed from the online “cut-and-paste culture” of today. The web serves as platform and while access to information has increased (although one may refute this statement using a “digital divide” perspective) as a result of the Internet, it comes with its drawbacks. As discussed in previous posts the Internet has a democratizing effect, but (and this is a BIG but) that’s not to say the medium and its tools ensure an equalizing effect. In order to exist online we must write ourselves into being (i.e. blogs). To me, the blog world can be likened to the annual battle for high school prom king and queen. The student body may have its say (with a vote) but the campaign to be crowned boils down to nothing more than a popularity contest. Similarly, in the blogosphere, “votes” are cast in the form of links, and to gain recognition one had better have a lot of them (which is probably why I go rather unnoticed or simply don’t exist to most of the online world). However, a problem develops when links are “forbidden.” Gillmor exposes some serious implications of forbidden linking, but at the same time points out legal debates go way beyond the trivial disputes about linking. Enter Chapter 11. 

Many communication and media scholars believed in the potential of the Internet as a uniquely free field with limited margins. As Gillmor asserts, “the Internet—the first many-to-many medium— was going to liberate us from the tyranny of centralized media and the rancid consumerism…Big Media wants us to buy” (p 209). However, the optimistic promise of digital media advocates soon hit a brick wall when Big Business, Big Media and the Government got word (and got scared) of the unlimited possibilities the Internet offered. As a result, the big guns started taking aim at these digital liberties. In response central authority starting building fortifications to guard against the ubiquitous scope of the Internet in the form of firewalls. The push for increased security ultimately thwarted advancements and slowed the momentum of grassroots journalism. Radical and complex legislation also emerged to counteract the spread of information—information that many businesses, not just governments, did not want their customers/citizens to know about. Many legal issues and privacy implications abound as Big Brother breathes heavily down the backs of its people. Cookies, computer tracking technology such as “IP Mapping,” spam filters and blacklists are all disturbing trends that impinge upon privacy and security. Copyright infringement is another subject of debate in Chapter 11. The plaintiffs are big businesses who feel threatened by digital media’s ability to easily copy and distribute. Bottom line: the entertainment industry got paranoid and Hollywood lobbyists started building their case against digital technologies. Gillmor notes, “the industry has cleverly, though wrongly, framed the argument as “stealing” versus “property rights” (p 215). The problem is, once copyright holders are given unprecedented control, they own not just the product, but the consumer as well and the customer is now imprisoned to their rules. This practice not only denies people fair use of what they have purchased, but will undeniably have disastrous effects on the future of citizen media/journalism. 

Chapter 12 -the final chapter of Gillmor’s masterpiece- is a last call to people concerned about the future of the field. Throughout the book Gillmor has persuasively argued how the Internet is disrupting the current flow of information. His closing argument echoes everything he’s revealed up to this point while challenging the reader to join this new wave of effective citizen journalism. Gillmor has used the previous chapters to outline how technology is altering journalism and now in his closing remarks he urges his readers to become part of the process.

My My Hey Hey

Chapter 7 presents citizen media from a participatory audience perspective. Gillmor focuses his attention to the democratizing effect of the Internet and how grassroots journalism is emerging as a force to be reckoned with. Citizen media has helped shed light on subjects that major media outlets have remained in the dark about. This chapter focuses on two levels of participatory media: traditional “contributors” (i.e. writers) and new “members” of the former audience. A big shift is people’s ability to have a say and actually be heard. For example, Gillmor notes that “blogs can be acts of civic engagement” (p 139). Another idea worth noting is the “many eyeballs power” that developed from technological advancement. Some advantages of citizen media are increased human agency and the expansion of the vast pool of available information. According to Gillmor, another revolutionary example of participatory media via the web is wikis. Gillmor also addresses some “new business models for tomorrow’s personal journalism.” The central idea in chapter 7 is the notion that, as a society, we’re on the verge of some big changes—changes that enable ordinary people to do extraordinary things.

Chapter 8 expands on the arguments from the previous section while predicting some of the “next steps” that will occur in the business world. Technology not only transforms culture, but shapes its laws. Gillmor discusses Moore’s Law, Metcalfe’s Law and Reed’s Law and their widespread effects. Participatory media has taken off as a result of readily available “tools of creation” from technological advancement. However, Gillmor asserts these tools will need to become even simpler in order to include/encourage even the biggest technologically-challenged citizens to join the media revolution. Chapter 8 also revisits RSS in an attempt to further emphasize its vital role in gathering information. The concept of the “world live web” is also introduced and discussed by Gillmor. The matter of honesty and integrity is raised at the close of Chapter 8 and becomes the central focus of Chapter 9.

As previously mentioned Chapter 9 tackles the boundaries of trust. A negative consequence of new technologies is new ways to mislead. From product placement to digitally enhanced or doctored photographs, new media translates to new opportunities for deception. Another major shortcoming of increased advancement is the ability to remain anonymous. While this ability can be advantageous in some life circumstances (i.e. people with AIDS), it is sometimes frowned upon in the online world. Trolls, spinning, and “google bombing” are just a few of the malicious methods used to taint the online experience. However fact-checking is a simple technique used to combat these impurities. Gillmor’s bottom line: People need to take information on the Internet with a proverbial grain of salt.

Don’t Fear the Reaper

Chapter 4-6 of Gillmor’s “We the Media” continues to satisfy tech junkies and communication scholars insatiable hunger for the world of changing media. The key theme in Chapter 4 is talking AND listening to your audience. Whatever your company/industry may be, exploit the available technologies—RSS, blogs, forums, chat rooms, wikis, etc. and join the online conversation that’s occurring. We are in a media revolution of open communication that’s not only right but necessary for survival. Businesses need to realize the multi-dimensional audience and use the net-based tools to reach them. Gillmor exhaustively stresses the capability of RSS to monitor changes. Another advantage of RSS is the ability to be found, all one needs to do is “write” yourself into being online. In other words, put yourself out there and through these new innovative technologies let your audience find you. Gillmor preaches to the PR industry the necessity of “from the edges” communication. He concludes Chapter 4 with some “rules for new world PR and marketing.”

Chapter 5 encompasses citizen media and politics citing Howard Dean’s triumphant rise and fall via the web as an example of the changing times. The Internet has transformed the political arena and helped facilitate engagement while reinforcing active citizenship. Put another way, new technologies have a democratizing effect and help bring back civic activity into the hands of the people. This chapter discusses the 2004 presidential election at great length to illustrate the impact of the Internet. The web not only helped keep supporters up to date and involved, but let the media stay informed too. Again, a major focus is the notion of decentralizing the power to a “bottom-up” exchange, or as Gillmor calls it “edge to the middle” movement.

Chapter 6 reviews professional journalists’ role in the conversations. This chapter echoes much of Chapter 4’s argument with respect to audience participation as an integral part of the new business model.  In this chapter, Gillmor breaks down how the news industry can adapt to this evolutionary process. He highlights the advantages of linking content (“web-linking), asking the audience for help, and the importance of higher education for journalists (which is really a call for conservative slow-moving schools to abandon their hesitancy to accept change and join the media revolution). It’s important to note that traditional media should not see these changes as a threat, but rather an opportunity or gift—a real chance to do bigger and better things.

House of the Rising Sun.

Dan Gillmor’s “We the Media” exposes the transformation of journalism from a hierarchal top-down structure to a democratic grassroots bottom-up fashion. He chronicles the evolutionary changes of storytelling as well as the revolutionary changes to communication technologies. Gillmor predicts the future of news reporting and production will be more conversational with blurred lines between producer and consumer. Put simply, the communication network will serve as a continuous feedback loop giving a voice to the voiceless.

Chapter 1 recollects the early days of personal journalism—Gillmor is quick to point out the concept is nothing new and people have been rabble rousing since Ben Franklin’s day. Gillmor further reveals “There have been several media revolutions in U.S. history each accompanied by technological and political change” (2). He then goes on to outline the effects of transformation (i.e. “yellow journalism” and muckraking to the corporatization of journalism by media conglomerates). Gillmor sheds light on the cultural impact of the emergent web and how it transformed communication particularly the way news is aggregated and disseminated. The Cluetrain Manifesto understood the web’s potential and its authors explained how the Internet was affecting businesses. Chapter 1 closes with a glimpse into the advantages of open source software and how the philosophy benefits journalism.

Chapter 2 moves on to discuss the implications of the read-write web and how this technology supports the “we the media” stance. The chapter unveils the strength behind participatory media and what happens when regular people start taking an active role in the cultural consumption process. Gillmor addresses the fundamental technologies that enable the read-write web way of life. The Internet serves as platform for a vast storage of information. Thus, people who want to join the process and be more informed need not look further than the web. The internet breathed life into the Grassroots journalism approach (think blogs, mail lists, forums, wikis, SMS, p2p, and RSS). Gillmor delivers in-depth details about these communication innovations through the remainder of this chapter.

Chapter 3 stresses the need to break down the barriers of hierarchal top-down media dissemination. The title of the chapter “The Gates Come Down” alludes to the leveling effect that the web brought. Now individuals (i.e. blogs) and not just big media shape culture and news. Gillmor lists three new rules for public life: first, outsiders can create formidable truth squads, 2. insiders are part of this process and information now overflows via new forms of technology, and lastly, not just truth flows through this vast ocean of information. The key point is individuals have reach and the Internet helped give them this capability. Journalism is no exception to these changes. Overall, the sun is setting on paranoid secrecy and giving rise to a more transparent field of journalism where openness is inevitable.                           

Keep on Rocking in the Free World.

Yochai Benkler’s “The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom” introduces the reader to the network of information and knowledge that is now being disseminated as a result of technological advancement caused by the Internet. Chapter 1 explains the potential influence the Internet has on the economy and political sectors, specifically the effect on democracies. The section speaks about the radical changes occurring regarding information creation and distribution. Youtube, break.com, wikipedia, flickr, etc. are all current examples of individuals authoring their lives via the Internet as platform. The emergence of new technologies has allowed consumers to take a more active role, as opposed to being passive participants in the consumption process.  However, individuals as contributors pose a threat to commercial economies. Conversely, the common man now serves as an asset to the advancement of human achievement and development. Chapter 3 continues to promote non-market values.  Nonproprietary strategies gave rise to the celebration of the individual, which helps promote non-market production schemes (i.e. free and open source software!)  Another key theme here is that participatory systems can shape decisions made in the political arena, such as policies and values. The bottom line is the birth of the networked information society has, and will continue to have, a profound effect on both culture and economies. As a result of technological innovation we are beyond local. These advancements have opened the doors to a global playing field, and the Internet’s removal of physical constraints by transcending time and space greatly contributed to this phenomenal shift as well. In sum, culture is becoming more democratic, self-reflective, and participatory.

Here I Go Again On My Own.

The article “We are the Web” by Kevin Kelly addresses the power of the people. The opening pages chronicle the changes experienced by the internet and its users over a ten year period (from 1995-2005). The conclusion offers predictions for the future of this technology and where we might be come 2015. Kelly admits that the launching of Netscape’s IPO marked a pivotal point in the advent of the internet. Before Netscape’s release the internet was in the dark, and after the IPO the internet was thrust into the limelight. Public exposure garnered both enthusiasts and skeptics. Critics, such as Time Magazine and Newsweek, argued there was no hope for this new technology. Cynics also feared the commercialization of the internet. However, optimistic supporters rallied to defend the revolutionary concept still in its infancy. Another recurring theme throughout the piece is the central belief that not only did people fail to envision the Web’s potential, but most still don’t see it today! Even so, the web of today differs dramatically from its simple beginnings. The current model is dominated by the reciprocal roles of producer and consumer (think youtube.com). In other words, customers aren’t a passive audience anymore, but rather active participants in cultural consumption and production. Kelly puts a modern spin on renowned communication theorist Marshall McLuhan’s famous expression, “The medium is the message” by declaring instead that “The online culture is the culture.”

“Open Source Paradigm Shift” by Tim O’Reilly proved to be a complicated read for me. The constant references to computer language and source codes made it difficult for me to understand some of the topics he touched upon. Battelle’s book employs similar parlance. However, his overall style and tone is more captivating (and clarifying). Unfortunately, I found O’Reilly’s writing to be very dry and uninspiring. Consequently, I often became sidetracked with other thoughts, which resulted in rereading some paragraphs over several times. However, (I think) I deciphered some of his central arguments.

The article is an adaptation of several previous talks O’Reilly delivered on the open source paradigm shift topic. As defined by Kuhn “paradigm shifts” refer to revolutionary processes in science, but today the term is more commonly known as describing any profound historical change that occurs over time. O’Reilly bases his sixteen-page discussion on the open source paradigm shift which he believes is slowly in effect. Open source refers to the principle practice of writing software in which the source code is made available and open for public use. O’Reilly uses the IBM example (see page 2 of his article for clarification), to illustrate the position of free and open source developers. In other words, the belief exists that software vendors are disadvantaging themselves by abiding by yesterday’s rules when today’s rules are reshaping the industry. O’Reilly posits his “three C’s” to reflect the current trends in business: the commodization of software, network-enabled collaboration, and software customizability which means software as service. After that, it’s all mumble-jumble to me. Hopefully, tomorrow’s class will lessen my confusion.