Commentary on technologies of reading, writing, research, and, generally, knowledge. As these technologies change and develop, what do we lose, what do we gain, what is (fundamentally or trivially) altered? And, not least, what’s fun?
By: Alan Jacobs
March 20, 2015
Folks, it’s good to be back. Let me just draw your attention to a few things I posted and/or published while I was away from here: Here’s a description of a new (online only) writing assignment I’m trying out in my classes this term. I’ll give a report on the success, or failure, of the experiment in a near-future...
March 19, 2015
October 23, 2014
Another note on the Southern Reach trilogy — or something that started as a note but then turned into a critique. A couple of years ago I wrote that the first installment of Peter Jackson’s Hobbit was marred by “videogame aesthetics.” Remember the dwarves running across the bridges in the goblin caves? Classic side-scroller!...
October 23, 2014
Having read Jeff VanderMeer’s Southern Reach Trilogy and thought about it for a while, I’ve decided that I don’t like it as much as I thought I would. To be sure, some things about it are fantastic: the first volume in particular is sublimely creepy. But I am not sure whether the novel as a whole — and it is one novel broken into...
October 20, 2014
This attack on brunch is worth noting because it exemplifies a couple of recent trends in opinion pieces. First, we have strategic exaggeration. You don’t just say that you disapprove of brunch, you say that eating brunch manifests a “desire to reject adulthood.” You say it’s a rejection of “the social conventions of our...
October 13, 2014
Folks, things have been quiet around here for the past few days and will likely be quiet for the foreseeable future. I have a great deal on my plate, both professionally and personally. But a few bits of news and/or enlightenment: 1) I had planned to blog about Nick Carr’s new book The Glass Cage here, but instead I’m going...
October 8, 2014
A couple of follow-ups on yesterday’s oddball rantish thing on the social and economic structures that enable or disable genuine imagination: First, a really thoughtful response from my friend Bryan McGraw, who can provide a political philosopher’s take on these issues. Please read it all, but here’s an excerpt: No doubt lots of...
October 8, 2014
Kathy Sierra has written a post about her experiences with what we (mildly) call online harassment — a post that may not stay up for long, so if you’re at all inclined, please read it while you can. I just want to say a few words. 1) Understand where I’m coming from when I talk about things like this: I wrote a book on the history...
October 7, 2014
October 6, 2014
Electronic technologies are seeking to escape my control — and they are largely succeeding! This must stop. Take Ello, about which I have written. I fooled around for a bit, but it has no privacy controls of any kind: everything is public to everyone, nobody can be blocked, etc. I understand that the service is new and still under...