Second Post

Just one more set-up post before I start blogging on the reading assignments.

At this point I've read the first 5 assignments in the curriculum. What I can say after reading them is...WOW. I've been reading Wired magazine since the mid-90's when IT was really starting to bubble. I read it all after the stock market crash in '99 (notice how I make the distinction; the innovation never really stopped) and through the web 2.0 years. From the 2.0 period until recently it has really sucked. As a tech magazine that puts out an issue once a month (with paid Condé Naste staff, in a centralized news room) it looked like it might not survive the onslaught blogs that post multiple times each day (with low-overhead). It wasn't until I phoned in my cancellation that it has started to get interesting again.

BUT

Reading from the New Media Reader feels like reading Wired for the first time in that mid to late nineties period. Except in the NMR these are excerpts that predict the future of technology decades before it actually appears AND tries to grapple with its implications; Pro and Con. You just don't see that type of honesty in ad supported Wired.

In short it's been a fascinating re-discovery. For each reading I'll try to first outline the material, then insert my comprehension/interpretation, and finally try to draw in a real life example of a situation or present technology being discussed that either confirms, denies, or is pending on the theories the authors produced.

UPDATE: I'll also try to tag each post with an appropriate theme