“I started to photograph people in company on their phones as there was a certain symmetry to them and it appealed on a visual level, but as I continued I noticed an inherent sadness to the proceedings,” writes Babycakes Romero, in his short introduction to his photo essay titled “The Death of Conversation.” He compares […]
Together Apart
July 21, 2014 By
A few years ago, AT&T launched an ad campaign for its mobile phone services. In it, a business traveler checks into a stark and lifeless motel room. He sits alone on the bed, dejected and lonely. The ad then cuts to him sitting in an airport after his flight has been delayed. A close-up of […]
We love our phones. Do our phones love us?
April 28, 2014 By
Since we’re always using our phones, our reading list this week is all about our phones. Why do we love them? Do they help our social lives or hurt us? How do they affect our children? How do they affect our minds? If you feel like your phone has taken away your sense of place […]
Reading List: November 5
November 5, 2013 By
Here’s what we’re reading this week: Are Smartphones Turning us into Bad Samaritans? – Wall Street Journal “In late September, on a crowded commuter train in San Francisco, a man shot and killed 20-year-old student Justin Valdez. As security footage shows, before the gunman fired, he waved around his .45 caliber pistol and at one […]
Arcade Fire: On Reflektion
October 24, 2013 By
It’s a music video, but it only works on your computer. Scratch that, it only works in your web browser–that is, if you are using Google Chrome and have a web cam AND have a smart phone handy. https://www.justareflektor.com/ This is Arcade Fire’s latest ‘Chrome Experiment,’ which they are promoting in advance of their new album, […]
Building a Bridge to 1986
September 11, 2013 By
As Michael Sacasas notes in his recent post, “What Motivates the Technology Critic?” there are two common dispositions towards technology: the Arcadian disposition that mourns for what is lost and the Utopian disposition that celebrates what is gained. When I come across someone with a strong Arcadian disposition towards technology, my favorite experiment is to […]
How To Speak Mac: A Translation of Apple’s June 10, 2013 TV Advertisement
June 17, 2013 By
This is it. This is what matters. The experience of a product. How will it make someone feel? Will it make life better? Does it deserve to exist? We spend a lot of time on a few great things… until every idea we touch… enhances each life it touches. You may rarely look at it, […]
The smartphone invasion of the last 8 years, as seen in just 2 photos
March 27, 2013 By
What a difference 8 years makes! A comparison of crowds surrounding the transition to a new Pope just 8 years apart. The top is from Bl John Paul II’s funeral; the bottom from the election of Pope Francis. I think I can spot two cell phones in the 2005 picture? (One in each bottom corner.) […]
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