Technology

Notes on the Legacy of Steve Jobs

Brett McCracken — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 08:35:44 -0700

It may be too soon for a “legacy” commentary on Steve Jobs. But part of Job’s legacy is that he helped popularize the “having a mobile device that can do everything, from anywhere at anytime” quickness of contemporary communication. His devices helped facilitate the cultural shift toward on-the-go, real-time media consumption. Because of him (and others), we can now hear about news, process it with others and, yes, even write a blog post about it as quickly as we want to. That I’m writing this on my Apple MacBook Pro is not meta irony as much as it is an unavoidable reminder of this man’s prodigious legacy and his brand’s revolutionary reach. How many of you who are reading this now on an Apple product?

The Twitter flood of memorial thoughts this evening underscores the extent to which Jobs achieved iconic, hero status in this generation. In the last few hours I’ve seen him described as a Walt Disney figure, a Thomas Edison, a visionary and genius, a force of nature, a wizard behind the curtain. The man was regarded as a figure beyond a celebrity–a single-minded innovator who didn’t trifle in the trappings of fame, wasn’t soiled by his conquest of capitalism, but instead hunkered down and made things happen: in garages, in laboratories, in the dark rooms where inventors invent things that will change the world.

And change the world he did. He was a populist advocate for technology, bringing it out of the provinces of geekdom and making it more user-friendly, accessible, intuitive. In an era when technological progress sometimes felt overwhelming and gizmos and gadgets too complicated to bother with, Jobs and his Apple brand focused on simplicity, user-friendliness, and an attitude of “even you can understand this device!”

But it went beyond utility. Jobs also reimagined technology as something that was more than a tool, something more than a gizmo with buttons. He declared technology to be something with personality. Something with style.

The significance of this contribution cannot be overstated. In the Jobs generation, technology became an accessory and friend rather than just something we use. With our “Macs,” our iPods and ear “buds,” and above all our beloved attached-at-the-hand iPhones, we learned to have relationships and emotional attachments with our technological devices. We feel lonely when we are without them. We turn to them in boredom, in sadness, in madness. They facilitate our every social move. In a very real way, Jobs pioneered an attitude toward technology (as a social, relational, emotional hub of our human experience) that paved the way for social media like Facebook and Twitter.

Jobs made technology elegant, sexy, beautiful. He made it something inspiring and easy for students, writers, artists, designers, musicians. He made it friendly. The first time I got an iPod I immediately got a little “sock” covering for it– to keep it safe or warm or something. I don’t know. It was a little sidekick, something that I swear appeared to be smiling back at me as I ran my finger over the little wheel thing to find the song I wanted to play. Maybe it was the neon colored ads, or the soft white rounded aesthetic, or the precious manner in which “i” was a pre-fix to everything. Whatever it was, Apple mastered the art of making technology seem simultaneously simple, futuristic, homey, sweet, hip, necessary, gender neutral & fun.

The technological landscape was altered significantly by Jobs, perhaps chiefly because he helped fuse the technological to the human landscape. If there had never been a Steve Jobs, we probably would still be living in a world where technology was an indispensable part of our daily lives. But I bet that world would have been far less pleasant than the iWorld Jobs has given us.

Surveillance Society Reversal

Phil Towne — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 09:09:39 -0700

I saw an interesting article in Wired this morning from Clive Thompson, called "on Establishing Rules in the Videocam Age".

In this article, he talks about the new always on "sousveillance" culture. He talks about the way in which this always on video culture can be reversed from a culture of surveillance to one where people are instead turning their cameras back around to look at those in power.

This particular development seems to mirror one of McLuhan's famous sayings in the Tetrad. McLuhan once laid claim that all new forms of media must be asked four questions. These four questions make up what he called the four laws of media. They are:

"What does the medium enhance?"

"What does the medium make obsolete?"

"What does the medium retrieve (that has been obsolesced earlier)?"

"What does the medium reverse (when pushed to extremes)?"

When I read the above linked article, I began to think about this last question. The medium that was once feared to provide authorities with too much insight into our lives and brought about privacy concerns is now being reversed into something used against these same authorities. This is a fascinating re-distribution of power that is occuring due to the rise in easily distributed digital content.

As I talked about in my last blog, I believe there to be a massive shift underway in the way we see authority and power. While these power structures remain currently, and will not disappear overnight, there are developments being made, "reversals" if you will that are beginning to push back in areas that have long been captive to those in authority.

I have mixed feelings about this. One side of me likes safety and control, and values order. This part gets a bit nervous about the chaos that re-distribution could bring about. The other side of me likes the punk rock/hacker nature of all of this, and is excited to see how this continues to develop in the coming years.

Anyway, just a few thoughts after some morning reading.

Social Media Slips

Brett McCracken — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 13:06:19 -0700

Say what you will about the positives of social media (and certainly there are quite a few positives), but near the top of the negative column has got to be social media’s propensity for gaffes, slips, and careless no-filter missteps.

Social media (Twitter, Facebook, Google+, etc) operates under the real-time logic of “share what’s on your mind NOW” bite-sized communication. It favors non-reflective pronouncements and emotional rants, and abhors the slow-down-let’s-think-about-this mindset which might cause someone to (heaven forbid) think twice about posting an update. As a result, people are frequently tweeting before they think about the ramifications. High-profile politicians are not immune (think Anthony Weiner), nor are celebrities (Chris Brown, Glenn Beck, etc).

Even prominent evangelicals like pastor John Piper have unleashed questionable tweets, such as the infamous “Farewell, Rob Bell” missive, or his more recent “five-year-olds who find sex boring” tweet.

Then there was Mark Driscoll’s recent Facebook post about effeminate worship leaders, which set off a firestorm after Rachel Held Evan’s took him to task in a well-circulated blog post.

What’s going on here?

It seems clear that social media is particularly gaffe-prone. And it also seems clear that anyone on social media needs to try harder to slow down and think through what they will communicate on these platforms.

Though social media certainly lends itself to a sort of on-the-fly pontificating, it’s a much more effective tool when exercised with restraint and bolstered by some semblance of strategy and big-picture thinking. In the same way that you would read and re-read an important email to one person, is it too much to ask to read and re-read a tweet or Facebook status update that goes out to hundreds or thousands?

Poorly thought-out messages on social media can do severe damage, both to the sender and to the many receivers who happen to be scrolling through their feeds at any given moment. The impersonal, easy-as-1-2-3 nature of this sort of communication makes it easy to say wildly emotional, exaggerated, inflammatory things without feeling the sort of reticence one might feel in a more personal or face-to-face setting. And the required brevity of posts (140 characters or less on Twitter) makes it hard to communicate context or nuance.

This is not to say that one should refuse to use Twitter and other social media platforms to sound off on hot topics or to speak strongly about something. It can be done well. I just think we’d all be a bit better off if we had a more careful, deliberate approach… opting to not necessarily tweet every thought we have about any given thing, but to consider that sometimes saying nothing is better than squeezing an essay-length diatribe into a woefully truncated package and letting it loose on the world.

Public is the New Private

Phil Towne — Tue, 17 May 2011 08:42:31 -0700

Re-entering my PhD program has caused me to think much about technology. Two years ago, when I stopped my program, technology and Web 2.0 were at one place. They have obviously continued to develop rapidly, and are now quite different than they were.

Issues of privacy are no longer as important or highlighted as they once were. Below are two videos put out on youtube that illustrate the tension between public and private. The first video is a humorous (yet poignant) looks at what happens when information that we readily display on facebook is asked of people in person.

The second video is called, "Public is the New Private" and is in a more journalistic style illustrating the trend brought about by facebook and google to have much of our information public. The last section is the most interesting to me as they theorize what will happen in the future with our public and private information.

How comfortable are we in revealing our identities online? Does this trend allow us more transparency and authenticity or are there privacy concerns that should arise? Is this wise of us to reveal our every move online?

How many of us have intentionally created alternate accounts on Facebook to protect our own privacy? I have not yet, but know of several who have taken this approach.

What implications will this have for churches and religious groups?

I'm not sure I have come to any answers yet, but I am fascinated by the questions...

Any thoughts?

Phil

Are E-Books Good For Us?

Brett McCracken — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 23:28:49 -0700

Every April I read The Great Gatsby. The tradition started the April of my junior year at Wheaton College, when I took my copy of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s masterpiece (the most perfect American novel, IMHO) to Adams Park, laid down on the newly warm grass and read through the whole book in one sunny afternoon. It was bliss.

This year, as an experiment, I decided to buy Gatsby on Kindle and read it on my iPad. I’ve hitherto been loathe to enter the world of e-books, but I figured I better not knock it until I’ve tried it. A few weeks ago at Biola’s Imagination Summit, a discussion on “the future of books” with Moe Girkins (former CEO of Zondervan) and Jason Illian (CEO of e-book upstart ReThink Books) got me thinking about the topic. E-books certainly seem to be the future. Physical books, Borders, libraries… all of that will likely become outmoded. But is that a good thing?

The way I see it, there are both pros and cons with the e-book experience.

Pros:

All-in-one storage. Kindles, iPads, devices of similar ilk become portable libraries of vast numbers of books. Imagine having your entire library with you wherever you are. Instead of feeling frustrated that the book you want to quote in your research paper is on your shelf back home or in some library in another state… it’s all at your fingertips. Want to study abroad but don’t want to bring suitcases full of physical books? Just bring an iPad full of the dozens of books you’ll need.
Better preserved. Electronic books, stored on a device or in a cloud somewhere, are free from the mold, acid, water damage, etc. that plagues physical books.
Convenience. Have a few extra minutes waiting for someone at a coffeeshop? A half hour on the subway? Instead of having to remember a physical book, just pull out that iPhone and pick up where you left off.
Social reading. As new platforms and apps develop that combine e-readers with social networking (ReThink Books is one), the potential social and pedagogical benefits of collective reading (tracking friends’ comments, sharing notes, keeping tabs on students’ reading progress, etc) are apparent.

Cons:

Hinders our focus. When you’re reading a book on the same device that you could use to check email, update Facebook, watch a video, play Angry Birds, listen to music, chat with friends, and do about a million other things, it becomes harder to focus on reading for a long stretch of time. These devices are made for multi-tasking, after all… short bursts of activity for short attention spans. How could I ever focus on reading a book on my iPad for an hour when my instincts tell me to press a button and check my inbox or Twitter feed every 10 minutes?
Turns reading into a “downtime” activity. Before, we took books with us to the park for 4 hours. We packed a book for a day of reading at the beach. We planned rainy days around reading books. It was an event. But now, our devices go with us everywhere, so reading a book becomes an anywhere/anytime activity, which by default usually becomes a “when I have time” or “I’m on the bus so I might as well do something on my iPhone” activity.
Takes away the billboard effect. Previously, having a physical book in our hands served as an advertisement of sorts: Letting others see what you were reading. It starts conversations (“Oh, I loved that book!” or “What’s that you’re reading?”). Now, when people see us looking at a screen in our lap, there is no visual indication that we are reading a book, let alone what we might be reading. Where’s the fun in that? Similarly, the loss of personal libraries in our homes–bookshelves with books that serve as identity markers and clues to our personalities (let alone conversation starters)–seems to take away a valuable function of books as social and household artifacts.
Hurts the eyes. I’m sorry, but yes. Reading long PDFs on my laptop screen hurts my eyes, and this is no different. Kindles, iPads, laptop screens… It’s nothing like reading a book. It’s exactly like reading an electronic screen. Eyesore.
More expensive! This may not always be true, but it was for me and The Great Gatsby. $10.99 on Kindle. $7.99 for the physical book. How does that make sense?

Anyway, that’s my two cents. I’m open to e-books, but I’m certainly not convinced of their value.

What do you think? Have you had a positive experience with e-books? Negative? Indifferent? Are physical books going to exist in the future?

The Changing Nature of Communication

Phil Towne — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 12:53:21 -0700

“In a world where publishing is effortless, the decision to publish something isn’t terribly momentous.”

In the academic world, when publishing something, one must correctly cite sources, doing thorough research, proofread carefully, edit, proofread again, wordsmith some more, and then finally publish. There may even be some more editing and proofreading and editing in that process.

In contrast, in the blogging world, one must publish quickly, often, and still write with a fair amount of wisdom and yet brevity, to keep people interested. I often times struggle with the tension of wanting to put out a blog more frequently, and getting ideas a bit more solidified in my head prior to doing so. (You may notice this in the infrequency of my posts).

In the late 1400’s when the printing press was gaining momentum and beginning to change the nature of mass communication, scribes still existed alongside those who ran the printing presses.

Interestingly, the job of the Scribe (that of copying a book) began to gradually be undermined through this new medium of print. However, there were those who wanted to hold fast to the tradition of the scribes. One such man, the Abbot of Sponheim even penned a book claiming four distinct advantages and virtues of the scribal tradition claiming: “The devout monk enjoys four particular benefits from writing: the time that is precious is profitably spent; his understanding is enlightened as he writes; his heart within is kindled to devotion; and after this life he is rewarded with a unique prize.”

Ironically, in the day and age he wrote, the best way to get his message spread around was through the printing press, so that is what he did. Counter to his own thesis he did not employ the use of the scribes in order to get his message out to the masses. In the end, did the medium of his publishing undermine the message that he believed and wrote?

In our current day and age, things are changing. The dramatic alteration of mass communication in the age of technology and the internet is changing the way we think, act, and communicate. In a similar way in which the printing press altered the way of life of a scribe, and in the end outmoded the profession, the internet is rapidly tearing down the gatekeepers of information. This is not to say that those who for the most part control mass media now will not be around for a while, but the nature of their authority and the way in which many collect information is deteriorating their role as sole authority.

I have to wonder how this spreading out and leveling of the playing field will affect both the world and the church. I can’t help but believe that a major re-thinking of structures is taking place, and this will carry over to the religions of the world. What are the traditions that we hold tight to that may be outmoded in a few years? How are we reacting to this tension?

I am sure there will be more thoughts to come, but that is all for now.

Oh, and the above quotes come from Clay Shirky in his book “Here Comes Everybody” on page 68 and 79 (intentionally not cited in correct format).

Doing an eReading Inventory

Novo Ink — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 08:43:44 -0700

Reading is an experience. It involves all your senses. Where you read, when you read, why you read is all part of the context that makes reading meaningful. So the idea of reading books digitally, isn’t simply a cost issue. It requires each of us to rethink how, when, where and why we read in light of this new medium.

As we rethink these various factors, you have to ask ourselves a few questions:

What are you losing by reading digitally and, conversely, what are you gaining?
How will it affect your reading patterns? Will it cause you to read more or will it decrease the amount you tend to read?
Will eReading change what you read? Will you read more fiction or will you tend to focus our eReading on work/study/etc?
Will eReading change where you read? Will you read more because the books are more portable?
Will eBooks help you make better use of resource materials such as cook books, how-to books, Bible commentaries and studies, etc?

As you ask yourself these questions, you will be able to build a case for the role of eReading in your life. You need to do this type of honest review in order to know whether eBooks will help you be more effective in your work, life and ministry.

That is why our team at NOVO Ink created www.DiscoverYourE.com. This site is has simple tools and ways to get a jumpstart on eReading. We hope you will benefit from the resource.

Dear Gamer

Christopher Faris — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 10:45:42 -0800

Dear friends who like video gaming,

I wanted to write you all because I am feeling a little nervous. The latest Unreal tech demo came out showcasing what will be the next level of graphics and technology in videogames. More accurately than ever, it blurs the line between virtual and actual reality. Amazing lighting, facial and clothing textures, and animation give it the graphical quality of contemporary computer animated cartoons. It depicts people who look and move with more photo-realism than ever before. It is also brutally violent.

In the trailer, a half man/half alien character sees an elderly person being beaten in the middle of the street by guards that look like a cross between a Storm Trooper and a character from Portal. He watches the scene from above before jumping from the heights, slamming to the ground and dispatching of the several guards, with a final slow mo bullet through the head of one of the characters, complete with blood splattering onto the “camera” and sound effects in tow.

I know that Senator’s love to pick on our fellow pass time. I laughed with you at the lady on Fox news who tried to criticize Mass Effect for being a sex simulation game (It’s not). I know that in our modern era, Mortal Kombat from 5 years ago or the last generation version of Grand Theft Auto are still the hot button games to criticize in the public circle by pastors, teacher’s, and politicians. I know that people seem out of touch with what we enjoy. But, as gaming has become the #1 revenue generator in all of entertainment (Modern Warfare 2 and Black Ops taking that prize away from movies), I ask you one question: When is too much just too much?

Motion controls don’t help either. The on screen images look that much more realistic, and now you have simulated hand gestures to complete the effect of fighting, pulling a trigger, or dismemberment (Manhunt 2). I know it's not the norm in games and there are other gaming options to choose from. However, are we not thinking of how this sort of digital baptism might be causing us to come above water with a desensitized outlook on other people?

Look, before you call me out of touch, I assure you I enjoy video gaming. I have played through many of the M rated games that are available, some of which I have kept, others of which I turned off because the content disturbed me (Gears of War, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 and Black Ops). I am not some distant critic of violent images who wants to make a name for himself by over describing violent content to make it sound more shocking than it is. But really, this is shocking content. If gaming was in an era capable of hurting people more than ever, we are moving quickly towards it.

I see you still think I am crazy. Let me elaborate. I spent a couple of years working with people in a rough inner city neighborhood of a major US city. One of the families I worked with had young children playing Gears of War for multiple hours a day. Among other things, the game is praised as being one of the best looking games of its generation (I agree – it is a visual stunner). The game involves graphic blood letting, curb stomping, and dismemberment - much of which is at the control of a gun that holds a mechanical chainsaw in which the player slices through opponents and cuts them in half as the screen turns red from the opponents gushing blood. It is gory, over the top, gleeful violence. It is disgusting. If we saw it in a movie, we’d get sick to our stomach. Yet, these kids played the game many hours a day.

I know right away what you are thinking – it is the parent’s responsibility to control and filter the content the kids get. I agree 100% - parenting is the key issue with minors. If you are letting your kids play M rated games, you need to ask yourself why that is okay. However, I am not asking the parents of young children. I am asking you. When do you draw the line for yourself and say, “This is too much.” Does such a line exist? If not, why? Supposing you don't have that line, is that maybe a tad disturbing as to how desensitized you’ve become? Has there ever been a time where you had to turn off a videogame for objectionable content? When would it be too much?

I recognize the benefit of next generation graphics like this – a richly detailed fantasy game will be amazing. A newly realized take on sports games will be more immersive than ever. Game developers will have the opportunity to create stories and worlds that will provide some of the most fun and exciting interactive experiences ever – and I am eager to jump in. But with those great possibilities also will come great responsibilities. It’s sad, but I know that brutally violent games of this nature will always be a part of the gaming milieu. I just hope that you are able to objectively ask yourself if this stuff is affecting you or not and when do you draw the line. As much as you may want to stereotype the critics of gaming content for stereotyping you, they may have a point to some of what they are saying.

Sincerely,

Christopher Faris

Reading Crazy Love in a Whole New Way

Novo Ink — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 09:02:01 -0800

By Jon Hirst

Our team at Novo Ink is very excited to share some news with the Conversant Life community. This morning we launched the enhanced eBook version of Crazy Love by Francis Chan. This is a collaborative project with Francis’ publisher David C. Cook.

To find out more about the book click here.

We are very excited about this enhanced eBook because it takes a unique approach to this new medium. As you know we have been blogging about how eBooks can be tools of incarnational ministry among us. That lens is how we look at projects like this.

So when we sat down with David C. Cook and brainstormed this project, our goal was to create an intentional and incarnational resource that allows you to jump into the idea along with Francis Chan and learn new things as you hear from him and interact with the many other resources. And we are so excited with how the team at Cook brought the project together!

The tendency out there is to create a book with “extras” but that is simply more information overload. Instead we believe an enhanced eBook needs to be an organic experience where audio, video, and support web resources make the reading experience richer and more meaningful.

Our hope is that as you read this enhanced book, you will connect with the author and his passion, but more importantly, that you will get new insights into how you can grow in your love for Jesus.

In order to model that, I will be reading the enhanced book, one chapter a week, and blogging on conversant life about the total experience and what I am learning. I challenge you to join me in that journey and read along. I would love to hear your comments as we read it together.

Jon is an author and member of the Novo Ink team. He has been involved in ministry innovation efforts for over a decade including launching one of the first interactive youth evangelism websites and helping move Bible texts into the digital age. Jon is an avid reader and blogger and lives with his family in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Some Cool Features Coming to eBooks That Will Change the Reading Experience

Novo Ink — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 17:15:34 -0800

We have been introduced to eBooks over the past several years thanks to Amazon. And in the past 6 months, it seems like eBooks are talked about everywhere. The momentum in the past six months has really increased around eBooks. Until recently, eBooks have always been in the form of text on screen, which is simple, and a lot like reading from a print book. In the past year, we have started to see a lot of readers being introduced to the market, some of them with cool features like color, sharing, multi-platform capability, etc. These added features have helped to enhance the experience of reading digitally.

In the past few months, the enhanced, or interactive, eBook has gained tremendous interest and momentum. The new enhanced eBook is one that incorporates video, audio, animations, interactivity, resource links, etc. right into the digital book. It is kind of like what we have experienced on good websites the past several years…only now it is in your book. Publishers are starting to see that an enhanced eBook can really add to the reading experience if done right. At present, most of the enhanced eBooks coming to market have a video or two embedded in them, and maybe some outside links. Often these are added to an existing product as an add-on to make the book “enhanced.” In other instances, some existing products, originally written with the future in mind, are being turned into enhanced eBooks where the video, audio and resource links are a natural extension of the actual book. That is where the enhanced eBook reading experience really shines, and we will all start to see more of these types of enhanced eBooks coming to market.

Authors are starting to write with enhancements in mind. These enhanced eBooks really change the reading experience. It is like having the author along-side you providing insight through video and audio files. You are able to access extended resources through links that help explain an idea further.

A major author from a major Christian publisher is about to release an enhanced eBook with video, audio, resource links all inside the enhanced edition. This enhanced eBook will only be available at NOVO Ink. We will be going through an in-depth analysis of this work when it comes out…which will be very soon. We will be posting on what the experience is like going through the enhanced version and how it is different than a printed book.

So stay tuned.

Bryan Cole

NOVO Ink