Category: Uncategorized

Another area where digital is making paper redundant

Our new Yellow Pages was delivered last week and it sat on the doorstep for almost a week before I took pity on it and brought it inside. 

I then removed it from its cellophane wrapper and promptly put it straight in the recycling. 

It's not that I don't value the content of the Yellow Pages any more, I just have no use for the big doorstop directory that gets delivered every year. 

And the reason is quite simple – their digital offering yell.com. When you can do a simple search and narrow it down by distance and subject, why would you trawl through the directory. 

And, while you can pay a little extra for preferential listing, the digital offering does away with different sizes and shapes that people used to display in the directory. Most entries are on a relatively equal listing, which can only be a good thing. 

But it's not just the Yellow Pages that is being superseded. The Argos catalogue has become superfluous in our house. If I want something I'll do a search for it online, not try to identify which obscure section of the catalogue it's in. Even better, you can find out there and then, if it's in stock and even reserve it, saving you a trip down to the local store, only to discover it's not available. 

Obviously catalogues aren't completely redundant, but unless you're desperate to see exactly how a certain product looks in situ, which the likes of  the Ikea and Next directories occasionally manage, they seem to be a bit of a waste of time and energy. 

They can still be worth the effort, though. Aubin & Wills – my new favourite clothes store – shows how it can be done well. Every season, they put together an almanac which showcases their new ranges. 

Admittedly Aubin & Wills doesn't have the breadth of merchandise of a Next or Argos, but they cleverly complement the fashion shoots and products in the almanac with commissioned features about a variety of different subjects, making it something you genuinely want to read and spend time poring over.  

In the same way that more niche and specialist magazines will probably quite comfortably survive the digital revolution, because the content isn't something you can easily get online, so this type of catalogue or directory will once again become added value from more exclusive retailers, rather than the norm from mass-market companies. Interesting times.

Posted via email from Rob’s stream of web

Watching technology change through a child’s eyes

The unveiling of the iPad this week was interesting more for the furious reaction at what it didn't have, rather than what it could do. But what also struck me is how the speed of technological development has affected our lives and will affect our children's in a completely different way.

As an almost 40-something, I grew up with the arrival of the first affordable home computers. I was there at the dawn of a new age, when home computing for the masses meant the wonder of the rubber-keyed ZX Spectrum or the less-exciting Commodore 64 (well, in my world anyway); the ability to write your own – pretty shoddy – computer programs using BASIC; and the fun of playing games like Jet Set Willy or Daley Thompson's Decathlon.

Then of course, there was the advent of video recorders, enabling people to tape a TV programme if they were out, or – wonder of wonders – there was something else more interesting on the other channel. God help you, though, if you didn't keep a note of what was on which tape and then Mum recorded over that all-important episode of Top of the Pops with Blondie singing Atomic on it.

The advance of technology felt quite amazing, but let's face it, it wasn't exactly quick. People held onto the same video players and TVs for decades, almost. I remember the only reason we upgraded from a record player and separate radio in our house was because I won a Fisher portable stereo at a local fete – the height of sophistication! 

Now I look at my kids, though, and I'm amazed at how things have changed in the last 30-odd years and how things that seemed like science-fiction not so long ago are now bread and butter to today's youth. 

– Video calls using Skype seem like the most normal thing in the world, rather than an Arthur C Clarke invention. 
– Being able to watch live or already-broadcast TV in bed via an iPhone, rather than a clunky portable on the dresser, is commonplace for my 3-year-old daughter. 
– A friend's two-year-old son can't understand why his mum's phone doesn't work as a touchscreen, because he's so used to the iPhone's interface. 
– My 6-y-o asks me things like: 'Daddy, can you ask your phone how hair grows, please?' when we're out somewhere. Have encyclopaedias ever seemed less relevant?

My point is that digital technology is evolving at such a rapid rate that it almost makes more sense to watch how kids accept and deal with it, rather than making such an effort to process it for ourselves. 

Technology used to be an exciting addition to people's lives. When Mark Edgell up the road got an Atari, we all went round to watch the wonder of Pong. It was almost 6 years before I got my Spectrum and even then I was way behind all my mates, having had to cope with going round to their houses and playing with theirs, rather than hole up in my own bedroom.

Now, having digital technology at home is as essential as a table and chairs. My youngest has her own CD player, but she'll be the last generation for whom that's the norm. Equally her collection of DVDs is fast becoming obsolete with the ability to house hundreds of TV shows and films digitally on hard drives, rather than deal with the fiddly nature of opening and shutting a drawer.

I actually think the commonplace nature of technology will actually lead to a revolution in non-technological skills and professions. Forty years ago, my mum was employed as a typist for the Greater London Council (GLC) and was got a pay rise because she could type so fast. Now, you're looked at as some kind of weirdo if you can't operate a keyboard and computer. 

Consequently, skills that have nothing to do with technology will become more important. The likes of plumbers, carpenters and electricians have already seen their stock rise and there's no reason to believe that won't change as today's kids eventually the job market.

After all, although technology will still continue to evolve, the skills and advances that are being made now won't be required in 15-20 years time. And, as climate change continues to dominate the world agenda, there's every chance that digital technology will be viewed with increasing suspicion.

I'll be watching the change – through my daughters' eyes – with great interest.

Posted via email from Rob’s stream of web

Scary album covers

via yasviridov.livejournal.com

This Russian blogger has amassed one of the scariest collections of record sleeves I’ve seen in a while.

This one looks like Jimmy Hill.

And god knows what sort of music this is!

And as a Russian speaker, I can tell you he is genuinely making fun of them – not holding them up as beacons of design.

– Enjoy the whole collection

Posted via web from Rob’s stream of web