"What problem does the information solve?”
just my opinion, but while the answer ( at those events ) will range from the one he gave to “making lots of money” i think other hats in the ring are curiosity and human connection. or as huxley said via the op: amusement. or as orwell said via the op: fear
look at why people are “here” on boing boing: trading in information and i think it’s a mixture of all of those things:
status in having information faster, curiosity about the world, discussion and connection, some mostly wonderful things, and keeping tabs ( the old kind, tho maybe also the browser kind ) on trends in human catastrophe
nothing is rarely one thing
