MASHUP Data Integration and More - Chapter 2

MASHUP Data Integration and More - Chapter 2

As I said yesterday, I learned a new word which I needed to explore. Here is a mashup of sorts, as several different chair styles intended to be suited with their own style become a row of seating unique to itself.

Even fruit can be a mashup when the creator experiments with several fruit.

I mentioned four mashup genres yesterday, one of which is music. This is perhaps the most controversial because of the possibility of infringement of copyright law when portions of songs are incorporated into something that is purportedly new. An example can be found in the mashup on YouTube called Pop Music United State of Pop (Viva La Pop) which uses the top 25 Billboard hits. You can see and hear it here.

The term mashup suggests the reuse, or remixing, of works of art, of content, and/or of data for purposes that usually were not intended or even imagined by the original creators. Remixing and mashup have a history predating the current digital information explosion yet today the properties of this digital environment has provided everyday users like me with the power to redo, revamp, rewrite, and reassign information in unprecedented ways. I can copy, combine and remix ad infinitum. Sophisticated mashups are conducted by web and program designers, by marketing and merchandising, by educators and researchers.

Our digital technologies hold out great promise yet create cultural and logistical challenges. Mashups complicate this arena considerably for educators and policy-makers. What can be legitimately deemed an original work? How shall assessment of originality be done and creativity rewarded? What risks are inherent in this borrowing, user-friendly atmosphere?

Read Brian Lamb’s article on Educause.

The brand images today are interesting logo mashups, a combination of two brands into one in each case.