Bircas hachamah is a Jewish prayer which comes around once every 28 years. If you’re like me, you probably don’t remember the last time it happened. So I started doing some research. If anyone else wants, here’s some good background information, the wikipedia page, and a good article about whether we really do it on the right day. (Summary: we don’t, but it’s tradition). My appetite whetted, I ordered Rabbi Bleich‘s book, Bircas Hachammah, published by some small Jewish publishing house. The first 133 pages of the book are exclusively in English, with English footnotes. The next 60 pageshave the actual service in Hebrew with its English transation, and about half the page covered with English footnotes. There are then another 50 pages of notes, charts, and other eppendices, almost all in English. For some reason, the book opens the Hebrew direction. Guh?!

This attitude nicely expresses everything that is wrong with how content producers view new technology:

But people who want to keep on doing creative things for a living must be duly vigilant about any new means of transmitting their work.

Being “duly vigilant” is the same attitude that led to Sony trying to block the VCR, that led the RIAA to try and stop the MP3 player, (and even, once, the MP3 format itself). It’s the same resistance to change that has always seemed so good in the short run, and failed so miserably in the long run.The script is always the same – groups like the Author’s guild, the RIAA, and the MPAA always fight tooth and nail against any new technology that could change the status quo. However standing in the way of progress only works for so long – they eventually lose. Once the courts finally tell them to accept the new reality, they embrace the new technology, only to discover that by working with it and using it they can gain more reward than they could have without it. (Think how much money the film industry has made over the years from the sales of VHS tapes and DVDs). It would be nice if just once someone would skip the initial step and go straight to the end-game.