"We can put such considerations into a larger, strategic context that the
“social media question” poses. Do all these neatly administrated
contacts and address books at some point spill over and leave the
virtual realm, as the popularity of dating sites seems to suggest? Do we
only share information, experiences, and emotions, or do we also
conspire, as “social swarms,” to raid reality in order to create
so-called real-world events? Will contacts mutate into comrades? It
seems that social media solves the organizational problems that the
suburban baby-boom generation faced fifty years ago: boredom, isolation,
depression, and desire."
These few questions pose a threat to everything that prior generations based their lives off of before now. There has been a complete 180 degree flip in how people interact. At some point, in certain situations, these social interactions leave the virtual realm but what is the ratio of those who know all of their facebook friends in real life before adding them compared to meeting online. The social etiquette to me for adding friends is to meet them in person, either a short meeting or an evening together and wait a day or two before adding them. People don't want to seem too eager to become facebook friends. They also don't want to be the first one to suggest being friends on facebook. Most of my social group uses facebook and other social media websites to ENHANCE their social interaction rather than INITIATING it.
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Saturday, March 1, 2014
Interface, Access, Loss
This is an extremely complex article that addresses a multitude of topics. One passage that stood out to me was
"Coming of age in the heyday of punk, it was clear were living at 29the end of something—of modernism, of the American dream, of the industrial economy, of a certain kind of urbanism. The
evidence was all around us in the ruins of the cities. […] Urban ruins were the emblematic places for this era, the places that gave punk part of its aesthetic, and like most aesthetics this one contained an ethic, a worldview with a mandate on how to act, how to live. […]
A city is built to resemble a conscious mind, a network that can calculate, administrate, manufacture. Ruins become the unconscious of a city, its memory, unknown, darkness, lost lands, and in this truly bring it to life. […] An urban ruin is a place that has fallen outside the economic life of the city, and it is in some way an ideal home for the art that also falls outside the ordinary production and consumption of the city.
—Rebecca Solnit, A Field Guide to Getting Lost
Although it was written by Solnit, I feel as though it is relevant to the rest of the small portion of the book we read. The last sentence refers to the ideal home for art as an urban ruin. It seems like a large cycle as the urban scene was made out of nothing from great artists and as it has deteriorated over years and years, it becomes a new element for artists to take advantage of. It is outside of the ordinary production and consumption of the city. Which I would consider as a good start for artists to find a source of inspiration. Profits would then come after this and would feed back into the cycle of economics and art as they go around and around.
"Coming of age in the heyday of punk, it was clear were living at 29the end of something—of modernism, of the American dream, of the industrial economy, of a certain kind of urbanism. The
evidence was all around us in the ruins of the cities. […] Urban ruins were the emblematic places for this era, the places that gave punk part of its aesthetic, and like most aesthetics this one contained an ethic, a worldview with a mandate on how to act, how to live. […]
A city is built to resemble a conscious mind, a network that can calculate, administrate, manufacture. Ruins become the unconscious of a city, its memory, unknown, darkness, lost lands, and in this truly bring it to life. […] An urban ruin is a place that has fallen outside the economic life of the city, and it is in some way an ideal home for the art that also falls outside the ordinary production and consumption of the city.
—Rebecca Solnit, A Field Guide to Getting Lost
Although it was written by Solnit, I feel as though it is relevant to the rest of the small portion of the book we read. The last sentence refers to the ideal home for art as an urban ruin. It seems like a large cycle as the urban scene was made out of nothing from great artists and as it has deteriorated over years and years, it becomes a new element for artists to take advantage of. It is outside of the ordinary production and consumption of the city. Which I would consider as a good start for artists to find a source of inspiration. Profits would then come after this and would feed back into the cycle of economics and art as they go around and around.
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Print and Pixel: The digital future of publishing
"Consolidation sounds so tidy, so crisp; but as Esposito writes:
"there will be a bloody mess while the final vestiges of the old order
are rooted out." Whatever the body count, we know that as we navigate
the epochal shift from a print-centric to digital-dominant world, we
will be traveling into territory now unknowable. Here at Places, as at
publications everywhere, the uncertainties aren't mere abstractions;
they're both urgent and ordinary. We are truly betwixt worlds, and as
editor of a web-based journal, I've again and again felt the truth of
William Gibson's familiar observation: "The future is already here. It's
just unevenly distributed."
This passage is extremely relevant to what is happening today. The print and pixel worlds are combining slowly and the digital world is taking over print editions. The question of how will these corporations that are solely based print models will make money? Once a copy becomes digital, it is easily transferred from one computer to another. This will decrease the revenue for these corporations.
The "bloody mess" has yet to really happen but I feel as though it will very soon. The knife has been stabbed in and twisted a little, but no bloody mess. This will affect so many people and families. Once the digital age has completely crossed over, there is no going back.
This passage is extremely relevant to what is happening today. The print and pixel worlds are combining slowly and the digital world is taking over print editions. The question of how will these corporations that are solely based print models will make money? Once a copy becomes digital, it is easily transferred from one computer to another. This will decrease the revenue for these corporations.
The "bloody mess" has yet to really happen but I feel as though it will very soon. The knife has been stabbed in and twisted a little, but no bloody mess. This will affect so many people and families. Once the digital age has completely crossed over, there is no going back.
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Theses on the Philosophy of History
"The past can be seen only as an image which flashes up at the instant when it can be recognized and is never seen again. “The truth will not run away from us”: in the historical outlook of historicism these Words of Gottfried Keller mark the exact point Where historical materialism curs through historicisrn. .For every image of the past that is not recognized by the present as one of its own concerns threatens to disappear irretrÃevably. (The good tidings which the historian of the past brings with throbbing heart may be lost in a void the very moment he mouth.)."
I found this passage extremely hard to grasp but this passage spoke to me. It is such an interesting concept to think about. Different things can bring ourselves to think about our past or past situations. But there are certain things that spark those images engrained into our head when we encounter them when we aren't thinking about it. A certain smell, object, color, it could be anything, really, that makes us have a dejavu moment and brings up happy/sad etc emotions. But after an instant, the spark of remembrance is gone, and we are just left with the emotion that was evoked.
The second part of the passage which states that if the image of the past isn't part of our future then it is threatened to disappear irretrievably. This is an extremely scary thought to have, but could also be a blessing depending on the situation and image that is being lost forever.
I found this passage extremely hard to grasp but this passage spoke to me. It is such an interesting concept to think about. Different things can bring ourselves to think about our past or past situations. But there are certain things that spark those images engrained into our head when we encounter them when we aren't thinking about it. A certain smell, object, color, it could be anything, really, that makes us have a dejavu moment and brings up happy/sad etc emotions. But after an instant, the spark of remembrance is gone, and we are just left with the emotion that was evoked.
The second part of the passage which states that if the image of the past isn't part of our future then it is threatened to disappear irretrievably. This is an extremely scary thought to have, but could also be a blessing depending on the situation and image that is being lost forever.
Monday, February 10, 2014
Friday, February 7, 2014
Post Artifact books and publishing
“The digital book is a strange beast. It’s intangible and yet wholly mutable. Everywhere and nowhere. We own it, but yet, don’t. Its qualities mimic physical books only on a meta-level.”
This is such an interesting concept that I feel stumps a lot of writers and readers alike. Writers sell their book and walk into a Starbucks with 4 out of the 20 people in there reading it. That must make them feel good. It reassures them that not only did they sell their book, but also people are enjoying and reading their book. Think of the same situation with 6 kindle fires in Starbucks. The writer has no idea what they are reading. The earlier situation was confirmed with the book cover and maybe thickness or color of the physical book. But with the second scenario all of that is lost. The same thing could occur with the consumer. If someone goes to a book store and buys 75 books, they are able to not only read all of those books whenever they want, but they can also look at them and design their bookshelves with them when they aren’t being read. If the same person buys 75 ebooks, they aren’t able to show their guests their library with their amazing books, but rather they could say “Look at my kindle’s library, see anything you like?” These are two very different scenarios as the dominance from print to digital takes place. Personally I prefer the hard copy of a book that I am able to write on and look at when they aren’t being read.
the quality of the paper, the pixel density of the display;
the cloth used on covers, the interface for highlighting;
location by page, location by paragraph.
This is another interesting statement that is a big difference between digital and print worlds. I feel as though this is an argument that will be continuing for quite some time. It is about personal preference.
This is such an interesting concept that I feel stumps a lot of writers and readers alike. Writers sell their book and walk into a Starbucks with 4 out of the 20 people in there reading it. That must make them feel good. It reassures them that not only did they sell their book, but also people are enjoying and reading their book. Think of the same situation with 6 kindle fires in Starbucks. The writer has no idea what they are reading. The earlier situation was confirmed with the book cover and maybe thickness or color of the physical book. But with the second scenario all of that is lost. The same thing could occur with the consumer. If someone goes to a book store and buys 75 books, they are able to not only read all of those books whenever they want, but they can also look at them and design their bookshelves with them when they aren’t being read. If the same person buys 75 ebooks, they aren’t able to show their guests their library with their amazing books, but rather they could say “Look at my kindle’s library, see anything you like?” These are two very different scenarios as the dominance from print to digital takes place. Personally I prefer the hard copy of a book that I am able to write on and look at when they aren’t being read.
the quality of the paper, the pixel density of the display;
the cloth used on covers, the interface for highlighting;
location by page, location by paragraph.
This is another interesting statement that is a big difference between digital and print worlds. I feel as though this is an argument that will be continuing for quite some time. It is about personal preference.
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
The medium is the message
The internet is such a powerful force in today’s society. People can access it anywhere and are constantly viewing things on the internet. However, some people still prefer print to e-viewing. Print becomes visible just as the internet supercedes it because it acts as almost a memory to those that knew printed books and newspapers to see the resemblance between the two mediums. When I think about the advancement of the internet it makes me miss the popularity of printed books and makes me think of grade school book fairs and book orders. You don’t know what you had until it’s gone. The printed book brought a lot of joy and happiness and brings a richness to the story that I do not believe that ebooks and the internet possess. The aesthetic appeal of the physical touch and turning the page are things that no computer will be able to do for any reader. I think that the print world becomes "visible" because without the print world there would not be an internet to update this century old technique of writing things down as record. It should become visible to those that had the chance to encounter the old while embracing the new as the internet fades in and the print world fades out.
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