RE: The written word is dead ? (was Re: FN-FORUM writing for web)

date posted 16th January 2001 17:18

Yes the implication being of course that technology and brain implants hold
the secret of eternal life and personality and individuality will depend on
what software one wishes to download.

I suppose once we can interface our brain synapses completely with computers
we can all create our own personal matrix and live an "active" life whilst
our physical bodies stay in bed all day and night wired up to an iron lung
it's quite a scary thought really since humanity as we know it will possibly
cease to exist.

Still I suppose what will be will be. I suppose it's possible that the
entire universe as we think we know it is the product of someone's
imagination who already has such technology (reality is just someone's
desktop wallpaper) and the evolution of humankind in such a direction is a
logical outcome. Though we still seem to have a long way to go before we can
work out how to travel to another galaxy by double clicking a shortcut even
though the concept of space seems already quite primitive.

Nick

http://www.artberry.net





-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL REMOVED]
[EMAIL REMOVED] Behalf Of Mark
SPLINTERPRODUCTS Harold
Sent: 16 January 2001 09:45
To: [EMAIL REMOVED]
Subject: Re: The written word is dead ? (was Re: FN-FORUM writing for
web)


Nick Berry took time out to say:

> So I think it is a little early to say the written word is dead and I
would
> doubt that even when our computers can speak and convert speech to text in
a
> fast and efficient way that the need for text will be lost because it's
> possible to read text far faster than listening to the spoken word and a
> droning voice is a very inefficient way for the human mind to absorb
> information.

Ok, I said I'd drop it, but not until you grasp what i'm talking about.
Imagine this for a moment:You will be able to "read" by a wireless data
download to your brain. In milliseconds. OK? so it might be possible to load
up an encyclopedia at age 7 and never go to school.

Just think about it. WHY use text in this world except for novelty value.(I
am not guaranteeing it, i am talking about a possibility, whilst everyone
else seems to think i'm talking about current fact)

Data-to-brain is quicker, and can contain "words", "pictures" and assault
all the other senses. You might be able to have sex but receive your
partner's orgasm. And your own. And then play it back later. Or sell it to
your single friends without telling her.

I KNOW TEXT IS USED NOW - my modem downloads at about 4K a second so TEXT is
WONDERFUL. I am writing to a bloomin email forum OK i am aware of the irony.
i said dying, not dead.

but do you think i'll still be using my modem in 5 years?

I'm talking about the FUTURE baby, and nobody gonna do text when you can
write with your thoughts and generate pictures and moods and music and
smells and textures and movement just by thinking about it. Text then
becomes SLOW and DULL.

Heck our kids will send smells to each other whilst playing a game and
watching TV and 2 DVDs at the same time. Scary maybe, but inevitable....
well that was the debate i was trying to start anyway.

Daniel Waters said:
>Advertising has its own agenda, I'm sure everyone on this forum who has
done
>brand work will attest to this. I can't help but notice Marks references
to
>the SELLING of items, specifically by the bombardment of the senses by
sound
>and image.

YES!!! At the moment the only places where gorgeous images are economically
feasible is in a TV ad agency or hollywood film studio, and the pictures can
sometimes cost millions. So the public aren't gonna use that technology when
they can cheaply write an email or SMS.
BUT people are already writing their own media, and when they can "write"
their imaginations straight to your brain, they will do so as an independant
artist/human and NOT write you a letter.
Nobody will use text when it becomes the dullest, low-bandwidth antiquated
method of communication since smoke signals.

Shakespeare would have written some pretty good movie scripts, (he did!) and
if he could have included smell and touch and big sets he would have done.
And he was an innovator so he would have laughed at you luddites! (please
correct me - i'm guessing on this one i admit!)

But anyway, my point stands, if you can do better than text, you will.
Nobody uses a typewriter now do they?

So stop talking about the amount of text on the bloomin internet and think
about the fantastical side of future technology IT'S MORE FUN.

:) OK i promise that's it.

Mark


----- Original Message -----
From: "Nicholas Berry" [EMAIL REMOVED]
To: [EMAIL REMOVED]
Sent: Tuesday, January 16, 2001 4:19 AM
Subject: RE: The written word is dead ? (was Re: FN-FORUM writing for web)


> I would think the complete opposite is true. Whilst it's true that people
> probably write less with old fashioned writing implements such as pen and
> paper and perhaps people read fewer newspapers and books as a result of
the
> internet.
>
> However, bearing in mind the main means of communication on the internet
is
> still largely text based. I would think statistically people actually
create
> and consume more text than ever before in the history of the planet,
> especially when one considers e-mail, newsgroups, forums, Internet chat,
not
> to mention all the Web pages, e-books, PDF files etc. As a result it is
> likely that literacy is far higher today than ever before particularly
> amongst kids because there are very good reasons for being literate. Such
as
> for example free MP3s through Napster. And you just aren't cool if you
don't
> have your own Web site.
>
> Actually It's not that long ago when boys were not even taught how to type
> in school and it was a corny sexist joke that men rarely wrote personal
> letters. Which is why there are a minority of men, much over 40 who can
use
> a keyboard let alone a computer, I have found it staggering, to find that
I
> know men, little older than myself who have never used a Qwerty keyboard
and
> don't even know what the shift key is for! I would think the standard of
> education and training has improved greatly in these areas in more recent
> years.
>
> So I think it is a little early to say the written word is dead and I
would
> doubt that even when our computers can speak and convert speech to text in
a
> fast and efficient way that the need for text will be lost because it's
> possible to read text far faster than listening to the spoken word and a
> droning voice is a very inefficient way for the human mind to absorb
> information.
>
> Nick
>
> http://www.artberry.net
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [EMAIL REMOVED]
> [EMAIL REMOVED] Behalf Of David Taylor
> Sent: 15 January 2001 18:37
> To: [EMAIL REMOVED]
> Subject: RE: The written word is dead ? (was Re: FN-FORUM writing for
> web)
>
>
> It seems everyone's missing the point:
> If the written word was dead, then this thread wouldn't exist.
>
> David
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [EMAIL REMOVED]
> [EMAIL REMOVED] Behalf Of Mart' Woollatt
> Sent: 15 January 2001 18:04
> To: [EMAIL REMOVED]
> Subject: The written word is dead ? (was Re: FN-FORUM writing for web)
>
>
> From: "Mark SPLINTERPRODUCTS Harold" [EMAIL REMOVED]
>
> > I said:
> >
> > >Text is "very dated" i'm afraid, a picture tells a thousand words.
> Not always the ones you're trying to get across though.......
>
> > ok three things to add to the debate...
> >
> > 1) Bullet points are eighties. They are only useful as an aid to the
> person who wrote them, not as a method of transmitting a concept. They are
> lazy. Use a picture.<
> Sound point
>
> > 2) If you still need more than 200 words to get your point across then
you
> have a very hard century ahead of you. Nowadays you get about 5 frames of
TV
> to impress people before they flip to another cable channel full of
adverts.
> Let alone 200 words.<
> Now it's getting a bit debatable; besides which if someone is dumb enough
to
> flip to yet another cable channel full of adverts then there's a lot more
> gullible folks out there than is healthy. These advertising types are so
out
> of touch in their attempt to justify themselves :o)
>
> > 3) Kids now watch TV and surf at the same time. So you are soon going to
> have less than a whole brain to aim at.<
> Either that's a sad reflection on the young of today or, if not, then
> collectively society has to pull it's finger out and turn the tide against
> this apathy.
>
> > ...... till i realised that nobody's got time to read any more... The
> written world has 5 years before it becomes a strange curiosity / leisure
> activity.<
> I doubt that very much. Folk have more time than they realise, more than
> their forefathers ever had. Besides curling up on the sofa with a good
book
> is eminently more attractive than doing so with a laptop/mobby or
whatever.
>
>
> Regards
>
> later
> Martin Woollatt
> Martin, Lincs, UK
> Tel: +44 (0) 1526 378341 Fax: +44 (0) 870 7051562
> ICQ: 40588888 http://sumar.freelancers.net
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>
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