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CGI, the unhuman, and the future of cinema
Some filmmakers think they’ll find the answer in CGI or 3D, but the very beating heart of cinema rests in the people we see on that screen. —Francis Ford Coppola.[1] Cinema does for us what campfire did for our ancestors. We sit in the dark, gathered around a flickering light, and tell each other stories.…
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How to fix football.
Football has problems. No, not the protracted labor dispute between the billionaires and millionaires. I’m talking about the grave health threat of concussions and CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy). A career’s worth of head trauma takes its toll, leaving players with brain damage and devastating emotional instability. As these harmful side effects come to light, the…
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Robot umpires
Why do we still have human baseball umpires? Of the four major American sports, baseball seems best-suited to computerized referees (hereafter, “robots”). In hockey, football, and basketball, the action happens quickly, in multiple places, and in infinite variation. America’s pasttime moves slowly, focuses on a single location, and allows relatively little improvisation. Baseball umps stand…
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iPad monism, ThinkPad dualism.
For decades, there was a stark, definite division between physical objects and consumer electronics. Physical objects (couches and books and food) were sturdy and touchable and straightforward and simple. The computer was obtuse, button-infested, and brimming with circuitry. Apple blurred that line.
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The library of the future
The visionary librarian must reclaim her historic role as the community’s information curator and collaboration coordinator.
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The library’s demise: tearing down the temple
“Tear down the temple; we’ve got shrines at home.” True enough; we can erect little altars to literacy on our bookshelves and nightstands. But how long can we justify this quaint luxury in a digital age? Printed books will become relics: hallowed icons mounted to the wall–first decoratively and then ironically. Spouting the “spiritual, not…
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Wirelessness: victory or defeat?
Within my lifetime, American homes will go cord-free. Wireless connectivity continues to advance, and wireless power isn’t far behind. Such progress will obliterate that rat’s nest of cables behind your workstation. That unsightly rash of outlets infesting your walls will be cured. Electricity and networking will recede into the ether. Whose victory will this milestone…
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Matt Hauger 