A revolutionary age, where Comic Sans is a villain and people are obsessed with Photoshopped cats

This “Age of Information” that we’re in? It’s in its infancy. We’re not accustomed to having so much free access to information. Most of us are still pretty ignorant. We might always be. There’s a joke trending on Facebook that goes something like:

Q: What is the most surprising thing about our world that you would tell past generations if you could time travel?

A: I have a small device that I carry in my pocket that allows me access to an unlimited stream of uncensored information… and I use it to look at funny pictures of cats and get into arguments with strangers.

The result of being new to this age, or not taking advantage of this age, is that although we have access to a lot, we don’t know a lot about anything. We’re more likely dabble in everything but remain experts at nothing. Hence the inevitable abuse of power.

This video highlights one example. People have access to typeface- they can use it however they want regardless of how it was intended to be used. But isn’t access to fonts and the ability to create fonts a good thing? Think of how many doors this has opened. People don’t hand write anything anymore. But of course there’s a downside to all advancements in technology, right?

 

 

The same principle applies to my recent argument about expressing naïve, uneducated political opinions through social media. People shouldn’t complain so much about seeing controversial subjects thrown around, even if they are sometimes kinda stupid. Let’s focus on what this signifies instead: revolutionary times. Almost gone are the days that we’re limited to debates with personal friends and afraid to express political loyalties to the public. That’s a very good thing, even if it means people with no regard to real politics decide to take passionate stances and express them.

You just have to look through the topic- what people are saying- and recognize what their opinions really mean. A changing world. A freer world.

Where people are free to abuse fonts like Comic Sans with awe-inspiring apathy. And get into arguments with strangers.

 

Preparing to Jump on the Ebook Bandwagon

I spent this evening browsing the iTunes music store for new releases.  Then, after downloading an album, I realized what an inconvenience it was to hook my iPod up to my laptop to sync the new music.  Ideally, I should be able to use my iPod to download music directly, shouldn’t I?  I suppose that’s why people like the iPhone and iTouch.

Then I imagined Don Mills (at the sassy blog, The Problem with Young People Today Is… ) ranting about my tech-savvy, lazy generation.  It wasn’t so long ago when the best way to sample music was to drive to a Sam Goody or Camelot and hope the album you wanted was hooked up to the headphones placed around the store.  I also tended to hang around resale shops like The Record Exchange (before it became The Exchange) and wait until I heard something I liked on their sound system. Then I’d ask, “who does this song?” and buy the album, hoping that the rest of it was as good as the song I’d sampled in the store.  I assume it was similar for Don’s generation:  Go to the record store, browse for something that looked like it might be good, and hope it lived up to your expectations once you got it home and onto the record player.

Now I know I’m a brat.  I get minute-and-a-half samples instantly from iTunes, and I whine that I have to connect my laptop to my iPod before everything is synced.  Synced!  Did that word even have meaning years ago?

But this brings me to the point.  My husband and I are trying to figure out when we’ll be able to visit our bookstore.  He is obsessed with a new series and can’t wait for Amazon’s “Super Saver” 5-8 day shipping.  If we had a Nook or a Kindle, this problem would solve itself.  I admit that it would be nice to download books instantly, but we are both so attached to our paperbacks. We love the look of our crowded book shelves and we love the feel of paper.

Is it time for a sacrifice?  Is it time to join the ebook community?  And if so, how do we decide which reader to buy?  Please weigh in with comments on the Nook, Kindle, and any general experiences you’ve had with ebooks.

© Alexis Jenny, 2011.

Photo by goXunuReviews at Flickr.