(from farbror-sid.se via DarkRoasedtBlend)
Mike Kravinsky of Nextnik.com came by last week and shot me (a very jet-lagged me, to be sure) blabbering a bit about obsolescence. Mike’s site has a collection of these videos, all of which he’s made and painstakingly edited. By day, Mike is an editor at Good Morning America and…wait, one second, my book is saying something. What’s that? You’d like to be ON Good Morning America? You know, can’t you ever be satisfied? You’re in a nice web video! Isn’t that good enough?
Sheesh. Books these days. Next thing you know, it’ll want its own website, too.
This is pretty much what our entire apartment looks like right now. Please, have a seat! On the floor!
(via binkythedoormat from Michael Johansson at but does it float)
My friend Amit, aka @Photojojo, just posted this cute Polaroid necklace to the Photojojo shop. Valentine’s Day is coming, people! Judging by the sartorial habits of folks in these parts of Williamsburg, I’d have to say that the Polaroid is right up there with audio tapes and boomboxes when it comes to fashionable iconography. Here are some of the other Polaroid necklaces the net is offering up at the mo’.
Lilliputian ‘roids from Jersey Maids on Etsy
Because the only thing sexier than a Polaroid is one that is also a mirror showing you your hot self. Am I right or am I right. From CBTSCloset on Etsy.
A Polaroid in all its photo-spitting glory. Retro-technology frozen in action! From FuzzyBunnyStew on Etsy.
The Newton was 1992’s answer to the iPad. Or iPhone. Or whatever. Honestly, I think that this might have more useful functions than my current cell. Can my 3G lime-green Samsung Propel send a fax? Print? Recognize my handwriting? Does it have a little rainbow-colored apple on it? No. Perhaps this is why my life is so miserable. Excuse me while I go hack my fax into cell.
“When printed books first became popular, thanks to Gutenberg’s press, you saw this great expansion of eloquence and experimentation. All of which came out of the fact that here was a technology that encouraged people to read deeply, with great concentration and focus. And as we move to the new technology of the screen … it has a very different effect, an almost opposite effect, and you will see a retreat from the sophistication and eloquence that characterized the printed page.”
— Nicholas Carr in The Atlantic, quoted in the story How E-Books Will Change Reading And Writing : NPR
Hello blog readers! Sorry for the lack of posts of late, but I was away. Now I’m not away. Away/not away, there/here. Yes, I know these distinctions are complicated in a time when one can blog from anywhere, but there you have it. I’ll give you a couple elipses so you can consider this.
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Okay now?
Thought I’d kick off my First Day Back with this sad (and sort of silly and sappy) ode to the Polaroid 600. Enjoy!
TATTOOS OF OBSOLETE OBJECTS: Vol. IV, Is. 4
Very pretty! But I’d hate to be the one to tell her that the return carriage is on the wrong side. Also, it looks like there is now space bar. But I’ll shut up now.
(via fuckyeahtypewriters)
I did this interview the other day with Ryan Ritchey of TheDigitalLifestyle.tv. You know something that is disappearing? The freedom to talk to someone on the “phone” without first combing your hair or cleaning your apartment. One can clearly see that I’m a bit of a luddite when it comes to such things. Call me old fashioned, but I just have an issue with having to curb my slobiness just because you can see me while we converse. You’re calling me, right? So be prepared to deal with the consequences. Or else you could just close your eyes.
However, if you want to physically come over to our home to visit, I may do you the honor of doing my dishes. Deal?
[via TheDigitalLifestyle]
Funny. You know what else is funny? The size of the CRT monitor.
(libraryland via rabidrantings)
Records? Obsolete!
Not!
Imagine for a moment that you died. Isn’t imagination a wonderful thing? When I went to sleep-away camp at age nine, my mom had to fly to California on business and she decided that, should the plane go down, she’d miss out on telling me all sorts of important things about adulthood and life and love. So, she wrote me a long letter and left it on my desk. The good news is that she didn’t die. She did, however, give me the letter when I got back from camp. Because I wasn’t already depressive enough.
Had this whole heartwarming story taken place a decade later, she might have done the whole thing online. Indeed, there was a moment where creating in-case-I-die letters and archiving them online seemed like a great thing to do. You had to designate a “guardian angel” to notify the site of your passing, which meant sacrificing some of the surprise factor your friends might experience upon getting a postmortem email to you. Or else you’d need to remember to notify the archiving site’s webmasters every time you got in a car on the LA thruway.
Sites like this still exist, but I found it interesting that the first wave of these services, which were mentioned in this 2000 Wired article, have all kicked the bucket. I hope anyone who sent their postmortems to these sites has been told that their postmortem correspondence no longer exists. The next frontier? I’m holding out for post-death SMS.
(via me on MotherBoard)
Veddddy interesting littte history of the mouse. Can we please retire it completely? My right hand is starting to take on a permanent cupped position. I’ll take a hand massage over a foot massage any day of the week. (You reading this, Jesus?)
My permo-mouse hand is great if I want to do the robot dance (which I do want to do) but it’s not so great in pretty much every other situation.
(via swissmiss via Core77 from Flickr.com/raneko)
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MEET THE AUTHOR
Anna Jane Grossman is a New York-based freelance writer specializing in lifestyle and entertainment features. She is 5'7" and has been described as "nice." She is not religious but is a Jew for Jesus Diaz. Email her if you feel like it: GrossmanAJ@Gmail.com
MEET THE ILLUSTRATOR
James Gulliver Hancock is an internationally acclaimed artist who crosses as many mediums as he does borders. James is constantly on the move, having been involved in artist projects and residencies in Indonesia, Austria, France, the U.K. and America. He is currently located in Los Angeles and works on projects in Europe, America and Australia. His work is as varied as his travels, encompassing editorial illustration for magazines, commissions for music group artwork and animations, work with disabled children on logo designs, creating gigantic set illustrations for performances and TV.
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TAKE A PHOTO, GET A LIMITED EDITION OBSOLETE HOTEL KEY CHAIN!
Just snap a picture of your copy of OBSOLETE along with something obsolete, and email it to obsoletethebook@gmail.com (or submit it by clicking here) along with your mailing address.CONTACT: ObsoleteTheBook@ Gmail.com. Because books love to check email.
FOR PRESS OR SPEAKING INQUIRIES: email Jessica Alter
