> I believe that we've sunken into an era where the bar on entertainment, humor, innovation, business, politics, and many other aspects of modern society has been lowered to reduce the distinction of talent over fluff...
Lowering the bar on access, I think is a good thing. That anyone with just a smart phone and a great idea could make a film is great. When I was a teenager I saved up to buy a Super-8 camera — but then the film, developing was expensive so 3 minutes became the typical length of my films. (Also, I couldn't afford a sound camera or equipment, so....)
Some of my favorite bands began with cheap guitars and amplifiers found in pawn shops in college towns. Now they can even distribute their music without having to dupe cassettes.
But if instead the author thinks we've lowered the bar on quality — well, that's pretty much on us as consumers then.