Amateurs are Honest Professionals*
Amateur is not below professional. It’s just another way of doing [media]. The root of the word amateur is love, and someone who does something for love is an amateur. Someone who does something to pay the bills is a professional. The amateurs have [more integrity than] the professionals. If you’re an amateur you have less conflict of interest and less reason not to tell your truth than if you have to pay the bills and please somebody else.
I’m not a Dave Winer fan, but I must say I love this quote. It exemplifies all that is great with the independent web. I’m not saying that I totally agree with the fact that professionals will have less integrity due to having to pay the bills, but it’s nice when you don’t have to worry and you can speak freely. That’s the joy of writing at Oreo CEO, no ads, no comments and really no caring if people visit or not.
We are starting our slow push into new forms of media to portray our content (eg. video and sound) and looking at how everything else is done around our Network, should our audience expect professional grade quality video production? In a sense you could say that our videos are very amateur. If you have seen any of our dance videos you now it’s just us being impromptu in front of our cameras. No special lighting or equipment. It’s simply us being us.
So does that lessen the value of what we have created or does it increase the value of the Network because we are connecting with our audience in new ways?
*And no not all amateurs are honest or even intelligent. I just liked that title.
*/
Great quote, don’t agree 100% with it myself but like the sentiment. I think if you are a professional doing ‘amateur’ or non paid for the love of it stuff is something you should go out of your way to do. I work on charity websites for this reason along with fact I get involved in a lot of side projects. Often through these projects I find my skills pushed more and therefore feeds into paid work and raises my bar.
For this reason I think blogging is a great tool in sense of your own unpaid blog. My own is a place where I experiment and learn as I go with stuff. This is what it should be like. Playing with new technologies then refining them to use as a professional or just to use better as an amateur – whatever side you are on of the debate.
By karmatosed on May 8, 2006 3:06 pm
A bit of history:
Amateur origins from the old world of sports (more specifically: football/soccer).
A professional was typically a poor man, that had to make money, while amateurs were the richer ones, who could afford to play the sport, without being paid.
By Jonathan Holst on May 8, 2006 3:41 pm
Damn that is interesting. Looks like I will be a professional my whole life though :-(
By Scrivs on May 8, 2006 3:57 pm
I used to remember someone (don’t remember who) asking (something like this)
“Who would you rather learn from? The one who claims he knows all but charges you a high fee for his knowledge? or the one who claims he doesn’t know much but is willing to share whatever he knows for free?”
By Vince Chan on May 9, 2006 12:04 am
I have lived my whole life with the understand that if you get paid for what you do, it makes you a professional. Doesn’t matter if its golf, building websites, or working the poll, if you receive money for the business you are in, then you are a professional at what you do.
It doesn’t mean one who calls himself a professional is good at what he/she does, but it does put them in the category of being a professional.
By Bryan on May 9, 2006 9:11 am
Most of the “Amateurs” do their work based on love and passion for they’re doing.
And another thing I want to underline is that if you are amateur doesn’t mean that you are less educated on a subject that a professional. So, the only factor that devide amateur from pro is the money.
By Krasen T. on May 9, 2006 10:40 am
“Do you like Basketball?”
“Eh, the only thing worth watching is college hoops… the pros just don’t have the guts and the blood and the fire…”
(How many times have you overheard this conversation?)
By Robert Bruce on May 9, 2006 4:33 pm
Dave Winer made a great quote? What next? Microsoft licensing Firefox for Vista? Google using standards-compliant code? Pigs flying?
By Montoya on May 9, 2006 5:26 pm