Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Kids Still Read
Fred Wilson has a post on his family's media consumption in which he talks about his kids' attitudes towards movies, TV (watched as often as not on DVD), the web, video games, radio, magazines, newspapers, and books.
For the most part it's what I'd guess kids would be doing: watching video, playing games, spending time on Facebook. There are a few happy surprises, though. Magazines are holding their own. Hard to say how typical this is--I don't have any insight into the health of the magazine industry--but it surprised me. I had assumed magazines were in the same world of hurt as newspapers.
Most notable, though, is that reading books is apparently alive and well at the Wilson's: "They still read books the way we did as kids. That doesn’t seem to have changed a bit. They read them for school, they read them for entertainment, and they read them lying in bed waiting to be tired enough to turn off the lights."
I found that absolutely uplifting, and anecdotal confirmation of something I've previously blogged: there is no replacement for long-form narrative text. Eventually that text may be displayed on an improved Kindle, as soon as someone (Apple or Amazon, most likely) gets it right. The exact delivery method doesn't concern me much. But that kids still take pleasure in reading books? That concerns me greatly, and it's great to hear of books holding their own in a home full of other glittering distractions.
For the most part it's what I'd guess kids would be doing: watching video, playing games, spending time on Facebook. There are a few happy surprises, though. Magazines are holding their own. Hard to say how typical this is--I don't have any insight into the health of the magazine industry--but it surprised me. I had assumed magazines were in the same world of hurt as newspapers.
Most notable, though, is that reading books is apparently alive and well at the Wilson's: "They still read books the way we did as kids. That doesn’t seem to have changed a bit. They read them for school, they read them for entertainment, and they read them lying in bed waiting to be tired enough to turn off the lights."
I found that absolutely uplifting, and anecdotal confirmation of something I've previously blogged: there is no replacement for long-form narrative text. Eventually that text may be displayed on an improved Kindle, as soon as someone (Apple or Amazon, most likely) gets it right. The exact delivery method doesn't concern me much. But that kids still take pleasure in reading books? That concerns me greatly, and it's great to hear of books holding their own in a home full of other glittering distractions.
Labels: A VC, books, facebook, Fred Wilson, kindle, magazines, newspapers, video
Monday, September 10, 2007
"We are talking about words"
Tumbledown.com recently posted this video of Frank Zappa on a 1986 episode of Crossfire, defending words and the First Amendment. It's a relic from the culture wars of the '80s, back when Tipper Gore was fronting the PMRC campaign to censor music.
The first 10 points Zappa makes: "We're talking about words!", which he says over and over. Once he stops repeating himself, he goes on to smoke the competition, John Lofton of the Washington Times.
To my mind the money quote is when Zappa is asked if he's an anarchist, and replies "No, I'm a conservative."
The first 10 points Zappa makes: "We're talking about words!", which he says over and over. Once he stops repeating himself, he goes on to smoke the competition, John Lofton of the Washington Times.
To my mind the money quote is when Zappa is asked if he's an anarchist, and replies "No, I'm a conservative."
Labels: first amendment, video, zappa
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Cooper black: Superst★
Running with the typeface motif, I pass on a documentary Tim dug up this afternoon:
Behind the typeface: Cooper Black
Behind the typeface: Cooper Black
Labels: typography, video
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Helvetica, math, bloggers
A few small bits:Helvetica: The Movie. A movie about a font -- font meets girl, font loses girl, etc. Great concept, and its web site is, as one might expect from such a high-design project, quite lovely as well.
I recently came across what amounts to a math dictionary. Definitely not high-design, but the content is very well done, and it includes many citations, the best part of any dictionary.
Lastly, a few Wordie regulars have graciously agreed to contribute to this blog on an occasional, informal basis. Stay tuned :-)
Labels: typography, video
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Rita Moreno, Morgan Freeman: Wordies
Swiss just sent me an absolutely fantastic YouTube clip from the Electric Company, circa the early 70s.
Click the image to open in a new window:
Click the image to open in a new window:
Labels: video
