There’s no single benefit Twitter gives me that’s important enough alone to make me use it. But there are lots of different smaller benefits. Combined, they make me a happy and enthusiastic Twitter user. Examples:

• It’s a news feed. Interesting news, I wouldn’t necessarily find in my RSS feeds, finds me. Automatically. Thanks to the people I choose to follow.
  But: I still read RSS feeds.
• It’s a search engine. I can find stuff. Especially stuff that’s hot right now.
  But: I still use Google.
• It’s a recommendation engine. Which technology is better? Which product should I buy? I can ask my followers for help.
  But: I still ask other people as well.
• It’s a social network. I can stay in touch with those I was able to talk into it. And I can easily start conversations with people I never met before.
  But: I still use other networks.
• It’s a messaging system. Drop me a line. Send a short note to a friend. Quick and easy. No need to start my email client.
  But: I still read and send emails.
• It shares my links. Have you seen this? If you’re interested in the same things I am, just follow me, and you will receive interesting links.
  But: I still occasionally forward interesting links to friends.
• It organizes my bookmarks. I tweet an interesting link, and it’s saved for reference. With a good description and hashtags, I can easily find it again later.
  But: I still have quite a big local bookmarks collection.
• It’s a micro blog. It’s so easy to put a tweet out into the net. Especially if I’m on the move.
  But: I still have a blog which allows me to be 140+.

So, yes, everything I do with Twitter, I can do with other services.
And probably even better with them.

If Twitter would give me only one of these features alone, I wouldn’t use it.
And I probably wouldn’t get it, why other people rave about it.
But it gives me all of them. Combined. That’s why it’s useful to me.

Most people look for the one clear benefit that alone makes using a service valuable. If you find it, you can replace something good with something better. Easy decision.

But that’s not the way Twitter works. Twitter is not better in any of the use cases I listed. Twitter is better in combining all these use cases into a single service.
And that’s a completely different dimension of benefit.

This is Lawrence’s speech from 23C3 about the differences and similarities of code and culture (75 min). Part of it is a very good introduction to the various Creative Commons licenses, and an explanation why they exist. You will also have a good laugh at some demo videos he presented to “strengthen” his points.
Lawrence recently also gave an interview to the “Elektrischer Reporter”, a great German video blog / podcast produced by Mario Sixtus. This is a two-part interview with a short introduction in German. The interview itself is English audio with German subtitles.
In the first part Lawrence gives a very insightful explanation of why current copyright law is problematic for the way we consume and create culture today (15 min):

In the second part Lawrence explains the changes big media have to face due to the fact that more and more content creators start publishing their own content (15 min):

If you use current technology like the internet to consume culture (read blogs, download music or videos) or if you even publish your own material, these videos are for you. After watching them, you will have a good understanding of what’s the problem with copyright, and what options are available today for you to fix it.