Logitech is selling a bluetooth "keyboard cover" for iPads that promises "the reassuring 'click' of real keys." They refer to it, in advertising pitchspeak, as "the other half of your iPad."
This means, as some of us have been saying, that the iPad is half of a laptop. But you probably bought one, so you know that.
Posted this comment on Rhizome in response to Michael Bell-Smith's essay CREATIVE 2 PROFESSIONAL: 7 Things to Think About:
Hi, Michael,
It's tempting to call this essay "7 Things in Search of a Stance"; what is your point exactly? Amateurism is bad? Prosumers are victims, and you, as a professional new media artist, are above all that?
It's fine if you want to inform us of some recent products that exploit creative hopefuls but what is the point of tracing this back to '70s rock and roll examples?
The Scott Halpin story fascinates because, for a brief glorious time, he had the skills to "step up" and substitute for Keith Moon. Townsend asked if anyone in the audience was good, not whether someone in the audience had a dream of playing with famous rockers.
The punk "three chord" example reacted to the professional excesses of progressive rock, with its symphonic scores and complicated time signatures. The punkers were saying anyone can do it, but as a means of promoting energy and angst in the face of irrelevant refinement. You still had to be "good" in your soulful rage.
None of this has any bearing on "no skills are necessary" phenomena such as paint-by-numbers or Beamz.
The Andrew Norman Wilson-style Olympian art view of pathetic little people "employed in the service of selling yet another product" exasperates.
An essay about how you (as artist) did something interesting with an amateur-aimed process might be more viable than creating this chain of non-causation.
Best, Tom
"Annoyed Greek Chorus" is preferable to peanut gallery but lately my hobby is providing a stream of oppositional commentary to the Andrew Norman Wilsons and James Bridles who lodge in our institutions like cockleburs.
Following Apple (or was it Google), then Firefox, WordPress.org is now on an accelerated update schedule. This locks them into having to think of ways to "improve" the product once a month or so.
Then the hapless user must submit to the ordeal of a full database backup, finger-crossing during the one-click install, then dealing with follow-up releases to fix the updates and broken plugins.
Worst of all, they are now naming releases for famous jazz musicians. Release 3.7 was "Basie"; Release 3.8 (stylistic changes to make Word Press more tablet-friendly) is "Parker."
I posted this comment on the Dreamhost blog, but it's also aimed at Word Press empresario Matt Mullenweg:
So if you don't have a smart phone or tablet and don't care about cosmetic design tweaks, you can skip this release, right?
Was scanning this post and Mullenweg's for any information about security issues, which are the user's main concern, release-wise. Didn't see anything.
Also, calling the release "Charlie Parker" is pretentious. The designers are comparing themselves to genius jazzmen (minus the heroin addiction, money problems, etc.).
You said it all with the phrase "update fatigue."
