The Internet Makes Work for Idle Hands

Faris Yakob — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 18:15:30 -0400

The radical decentralization of the means of cultural production and distribution it has brought about, that I mentioned in the slidecast in my last post, "Social Begins At Home," has changed the very nature of the audience--of what an audience is.

Social Begins at Home

Faris Yakob — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 11:58:40 -0400

Social media is so hot right now. At least I think it still is. As I pointed out yesterday, in my blog post, "Cultural Latency," things that get suddenly popular have a tendency to become less interesting just as rapidly.

Cultural Latency

Faris Yakob — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 02:30:02 -0400

There is a correlation between the amount of time it takes to distribute something, and the amount of time it takes for that thing to have an effect, and consequently the amount of time that thing stays relevant and interesting.

When music was distributed as sheet music--a literally laborious distribution mechanism--popular hits stayed at the top of the charts for years.

Lions and Language and Geeks [Oh My]

Faris Yakob — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 20:12:16 -0400

Language is in a state of constant flux, evolving at the edges, occasionally ruptured by dramatic and rapid changes in culture. It contains fossils and fractures that hint at what has been or will be important.

The word "computer" provides a convenient example. The first computers were all female, not in the anthropomorphic sense that boats are, but because they were all women, using slide rules to do calculations before we had "difference engines" [which are what evolved into the computers of today].