My dad was by the other night while my son played a MMO game on the computer. Dad, or grandpa, didn’t get it. He doesn’t “get” LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, texting, etc. either…
I was thinking about it and his world isn’t much different from what it was when he was a kid. And that, fundamentally isn’t much different from the world his parents existed in. Sure, developments were made. Man (person) went to the moon. Planes got faster and flew further. Discoveries were made. The Bay of Pigs oinked…
But these types of things don’t effect your day-to-day life in the way that the Internet, cell phones and other technologies that are developing do/will.
The world is changing – fast. My kid’s world will be vastly different from what mine was/is. Sheesh, my world is vastly different from what it was just a decade ago because of the Internet and cell phone.
Maybe my dad should watch this video (thanks @leighhouse)…
Watching my kid navigate by a small map in the upper RH corner of a screen while mousing all over the screen to battle ogres and buying armor while typing messages to someone half way across the globe, I can’t help but think that this “game” will help him in his future endeavors in the hyper-connected world I imagine he’ll have.
When you have a minute, look up Bar Code on Mobile or Microsoft Surface. We are going to be connected to people and information in ways you’ve only seen on the movie screens. And these new technologies will not be here in ten years they are becoming real RIGHT NOW. And then, they’ll be replaced with something totally different within the next few years…
That’s not to say “traditional media” will go away anytime soon (don’t worry dad). A report in Marketingvox today confirmed it – for now at least. Nearly 50% of kids under 11 visited a website BECAUSE of a traditional (tv, radio, magazine) ad they saw/heard.
And that’s also not to say my dad is all about traditional. This holiday season he gave my son a handheld GPS for geocaching - a satellite-enabled scavanger hunt. So, how about GPS for that pesky pin the tail on the donkey or pinyata??
I saw a little bit of graffiti the other day. It was less than 140 characters long. Scribbled in the tiny little space of white grout between the tiles on a restroom wall.
“OTIS IS AN expletive SO IS TERI”
As I looked at it I realized it was basically a Tweet. Someone’s feelings captured at that moment in time. Self-expression at it’s finest.
As we all know, self-expression (and according to the free online dictionary) is “the expression of one’s own personality or feelings, esp. in the creative arts.” And, “graffiti,” according to Wikipedia, ”is sometimes regarded as a form of art.”
I think self expression and graffiti are similar but different animals.
I’m in the camp that believes graffiti can be an art form. There is a difference between art and self-expression. Like the scribble on the bathroom wall, graffiti can be self-expression without much “art.”
So then, can a Tweet be art? Some do write wonderful Tweets showing clarity and emotion, that come from a creative, artisitic place. Others are simply self-expression (or promotion)….
Self-expression - it’s the same whether it is online, on canvas, on a page or on a wall. One man’s Tweet is another man’s graffiti.
Since graffiti, as communication and self-expression, has been around since 1 BC, is Twitter really anything new? Aren’t many twits simply writing their self-expressive graffiti on a server accessable by anyone with an Internet connection?
So, there’s still more ado about nothing – as in people wearing nothing appearing on snowboard graphics. I posted on this topic not once but twice already and hate to keep going back to this well but it just keeps bubbling up in the news.
Husband/wife owners of Burton Snowboards were recently interviewed on Vermont Public Radio about the Love snowboard collection which feature 1970’s Playboy centerfolds as the graphic. EXPN-ESPN also ran the transcript of the interview on their website.
Three thoughts on the interview…
Jake & his wife Donna did a great interview. Two parents commenting on the boards and parenting while defending the creative together - GREAT thinking Burton PR team!
Why don’t people understand the simplicity of Jake’s quote, “These graphics are made for young men, and young men do not want to ride a graphic that their parents are going to ride.”
This is a repeat of a thought from a previous post but – how many of these boards were actually made? These are not boards sold through the mass market so, really, how many are out there in the public eye?
Much Ado About Nothing – for those who don’t know - is the title of a Shakespeare play. I picked it for the title of one of my posts on these “naked” snowboards for obvious reason.
I’m a Lit Major way back when but I admit that I never read this particular play. However, a little Wikipedia reading revealed that Much Ado About Nothing is a more appropriate title than I had imagined.
Gender roles – women/men altering submissive/agressive and questioning fidelity/infidelity
A play on words revolving around interest in and critique of others
A theme concerning “seeming,” “fashion” and immediate outward impressions
Elizabethan slang (an o-thing) for certain unmentionable body parts
And mention in the references section pointing to page 219 of “Gordon Williams “A Glossary of Shakespeare’s Sexual Language” (Althone Press, 1997 ISBN 0-485-12130-1).”
Gender roles, what’s “fashion”, how someone/thing “seems”, interest in or critique of others – these are directly or obliquely related to the cultural issues surrounding the Burton Love snowboard story. I won’t say anything about the slang…
Side Note: Oddly, one of the great Shakespeare actors of recent times Richard BURTON (check out Taming of the Shrew with him and Elizabeth Taylor) isn’t recorded as having acted in Much Ado About Nothing on stage or screen. Taming of the Shrew also covers many of the same themes as Much Ado.
Part 3 in a 4 Part Series: Part 1 – Naked Ladies: Part 2 – Much Ado about Nothing: Part 3 – More Ado about Nothing: Part 4 – Nothing. Does it End?
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