I was listening to TWIT this morning, and they were talking all about all sorts of technologies that do not interest me much. I don’t necessarily revile them, or think of them as inherently useless, as I simply don’t want or need them for myself. Some are old, some are new. Any individual’s choices among them says something about that individual. Et moi?
1. Instant messaging. When the IM was invented, I was sort of there. Says I to me, well, that might be useful. But to be honest, I have always found that Instant Messaging prioritizes annoying way above utility. I simply do not wish to be available to anyone, anywhere, any time. Nor do I wish to give the appearance that, because I am available to anyone, anywhere, any time, and I am not somewhere responding to you at this very moment, I am doing my best to be available to anyone except you, anywhere, any time. But, of course, that is mostly the case. Most of the people who would IM me are people I do not wish to be IM’d by. My universe of the IM-worthy is very tiny. Creating such a tiny list for IMing hardly seems worth the effort. Besides, my mother doesn’t even own a computer.
2. More of a subpoint of number 1, to wit, cell phones. Sure, I have a cell phone for those times when it is valuable, such as during tournaments when we’re on the road and access is important and otherwise unavailable, or in my car in case I go off a cliff and want to report my whereabouts to the Mounties as I plunge to my demise, but that’s about it. I have no desire to be perceived as always wanting to talk to anyone, anywhere, any time, because I do not have that desire. If I’m home, I’m in the phone book; I screen, so leave a message, but hang on for a minute just in case I do want to talk to you. If I’m not at home, then I probably do have my cell on. But please make it a life-or-death contingency. If you just want to chat, we’ll find some other way to do it. I’m not anti-social, I’m simply anti-ubiquitous availability.
3. Systems for organizing my favorite flash videos. I do not have favorite flash videos I wish to organize. I spend virtually no time searching the net for flash videos, although I will watch one if you send it to me (I like a toilet-flushing cat as much as the next person). I am dubious that homemade videos are the entertainment wave of the future for the simple reason that affordability of equipment does not equal artistic skill. For example, writing implements have been around for millennia, but you can count the number of good writers on one hand. Ubiquity is not quality. To be honest, when it comes to entertainment I am hard to please. I don’t watch much on TV because most of it bores me. Most movies disappoint me. Most books put me to sleep (in and out of the office). Stephen Sondheim cannot write a second act. Nine times out of ten, if I want to be entertained, I entertain myself (by doing things like writing this blog). That’s just the way I am.
4. Another subpoint. No, I don’t want all sorts of things to connect my computer and my television.
5. Another subpoint. Sure, I like big screens, but for a thousand dollars I can go to the movies a hundred times. Since in fact I go to the movies three times a year, that means I wouldn’t amortize until 2037. Bad investment. Meanwhile, if I want big-screen TV, I’ll sit closer to the set.
6. Other people’s photos on the internet. Sure, if I know you and you post some pictures, that’s nice, and I appreciate your sharing, but if I don’t know you, I don’t give a poop.
7. Social websites. I have not visited, nor do I intend to visit, MySpace, Friendster, FaceBook, or any of its present-day avatars. (After all, they are all simply one thing that changes its name every year as the winds of fashion blow through them.) Web communities, like IMs, are as old as the escape button, and about as useful. You will claim that this is generational, and perhaps you are right. I will claim that it is something you will grow out of, and perhaps I am right. We’ll see.
8. Second Life. At the point where all I can do is control my computer by blinking, I might consider signing up, but until I lose all of my motor skills, I will concentrate on using them in the real world.
9. Fast food. I can wait for a good meal.
10. Eat the yellow snow. Even if you disagree with all the others, I’m sure you’re with me on that one.
2 comments:
did i make u anglee?
Re: Social Websites/internet groups
Last summer, as a NEH participant I and fourteen fellow educators spent six weeks intensively studying Hannah Arendt "and the nature of evil" in San Diego...Try lugging a copy of The Origins of Totalitarianism to be a real man after all, Mac. At the taxpayers' largese, I undertook 'applying' Arendt's concept of communities and citizenry to online social groups (mostly political, but also Second Life). The amount of money people make is quite impressive, the lawsuits in the non-virtual world over virtual disagreements are increasing (jurisdiction, always jurisdiction) the amount of academic legal and philisophical articles the same, and now there are even people trying to create 'virtual yet real' communities that seriously hope will be recognized by the UN and assorted nations. And since they do have financial assets that exceeds some of the smaller nations,and quite a bit of technological expertise, John Gault may be in existance already.
The U.N bit is the inspiration for this posting. The lesson plans produced belong to the federal taxpayer and in all seriousness said taxpayer's did get their money's worth.
I myself remain confused, I can understand wanted to roleplay being a knight or hero or tycoon or some other person of prestige. I can't wrap my mind around roleplaying dropping off my drycleaning. But I suppose that is why I do not have a drycleaning empire worth tens of thousands...
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