I want to like all of these new networks, I really do. Letterboxd. This Is My Jam. Good Reads. Great ideas. Very pretty. One problem though: I don’t want more than what I already have. What I already have is Twitter.
Here’s how my sign-up process at a new site works: I’m really excited about it. I use it a bunch for a few weeks. My Twitter timeline gets out of control. I manage it. I forget the other site even exists and never go back to it.
Why?
If I see movie and want to share my opinion on it, I go to Twitter. If I want to share a song, Twitter. Read a great book and want to tell everyone about it, Twitter.
While these new sites (and more seem to pop up every week) are well designed, they have no shot. Not with me at least. Everyone I care about is already on Twitter. I have more followers on Twitter than anywhere else. I don’t need to get them to buy-in on a new network. They’re already there.
Twitter is my primary news gathering source and communication platform. I wish these bright folks would focus on adding to Twitter, figuring out how to build on top of it and make it better, creating something to use with Twitter instead of trying to compete with it. I understand why they don’t. I probably wouldn’t. Having your own thing is powerful.
But Twitter has my sole attention. I know I’m not alone in that.
5 Minutes on The Verge: Nicholas Felton -
The talented fellas over at The Verge spent some time with one of the world’s finest designers, Nicholas Felton. Felton is the dude behind the amazing Feltron Annual Reports. He also co-created Daytum, a site that I was intimidated by, then fell in love with, then learned to loathe. He now works at Facebook, which means I will never get to interact with his work ever again. That is sad.
Just now, I finished my yearly task of watching all the Best Picture nominees before Oscar Night.
In a particular order:
1. Hugo
2. The Descendants
3. The Artist
4. Tree of Life
5. The Help
6. Moneyball
7. War Horse
8. Midnight in Paris
9. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
Great running diary from Grantland’s Robert Mays on spending two complete days, from the first showing available to the last, watching movies at a gaudy cinema during the worst month of the year for film.
(via Instapaper)
Just now, I finished my yearly task of watching all the Best Picture nominees before Oscar Night.
In a particular order:
1. Toy Story 3
2. The Fighter
3. 127 Hours
4. Inception
5. The Social Network
6. Black Swan
7. Winter’s Bone
8. True Grit
9. The Kids Are All Right
10. The King’s Speech
“And taste, he explains, is a byproduct of study, observation and being steeped in the culture of the past and present.” — “He” is Steve Jobs. (via Instapaper)
“There’s only so much time in the day, and only so many days in our lives. There’s enough great work out there that you don’t need to waste any time with anything that isn’t great.” — Marco Arment, from his response to Merlin’s aforementioned gushing
Three things about Marco Arment (and a couple things about you, me, and a metaphorical horse) -
Merlin Mann with some good gushing over one of my favorite developers that then turns into something else. My favorite part of that “something else”:
But, it’s worth remembering that we all have at least a little potential to do something bigger and more useful than pissing ourselves about what we don’t have or what we can’t do.
[video]
FCC Electronic Filing System
Proceeding: 08-82
Dear Chairman Genachowski,
I am writing to ask that you deny the MPAA’s request for a waiver that would allow Hollywood studios to engage consumer home theater equipment in “selectable output control” or “SOC.”
If the waiver was to be granted, you would be giving the studios the power to control the video outputs on the electronic devices in my home theater. In other words, Hollywood would be given the right to dictate what I can watch *in my own home* and how I watch it. Clearly, I should be the only person or entity making those decisions.
The MPAA claims that they need SOC to deliver on-demand content earlier than they already do. This claim, as I understand it, does not make sense. On-demand video works just fine through the cable TV infrastructure in use today. To release content earlier, all they would have to do is push that content out earlier. Simple as that. This waiver obviously has nothing to do with studios’ ability to release content earlier; it’s a ploy to gain obtrusive access into living rooms across the country and to set a precedent.
This precendent would limit technological innovation and homogenize the options available in the marketplace. Currently, innovation within the consumer electronics industry is truly driven by customer demand. Could beneficial technologies that use traditional, open outputs (such as TiVo and Slingbox) be able to emerge in a industry where SOC is a standard? Highly unlikely. As we continue to march into the future, I have become accustomed to gaining more freedom over how I manipulate the media I consume. This waiver, if granted, would no doubt be a large step towards stripping me and other consumers of these freedoms.
Finally, the implementation of SOC would also raise financial concerns for us all. Would consumers be forced to purchase and install brand new, expensive equipment in order to access content? Indeed. This is ridiculous, considering how well my current equipment works and the current economic climate.
The government should be looking out for me, not bending to pressure from Hollywood executives. The government should also be encouraging innovation and technological progression, not stifling it. I encourage you to keep consumers in mind and outright reject the MPAA’s request to have a permanent waiver from your previous SOC ban.
Thank you for your consideration.
Jonathan Nagle
South Hadley, Massachusetts
(To learn more, watch this or read this. To file your own complaint with the FCC, go here.)
No more Twitter or Google Reader aggregating here. If you’d like to follow me on Twitter, go here. If you’d like to see shared items from my Google Reader, go here.
OR…if you use Google Reader (and you should), just search for Jonathan Nagle (right now, I’m the only one on there) and follow me. Odds are I’ll follow you back; I like people-driven content.
To celebrate this evening, World Champion Alex Rodríguez is bedding Kate Hudson under a painting of himself as a centaur. (This one’s fact.)
To celebrate this evening, World Champions Joba Chamberlain & CC Sabathia are eating—and will continue to do so, non-stop, ‘til Springtime.
To celebrate this evening, World Champion John Damon is selling state strategies & secrets to the Taliban. Then he will cheat on his wife.
To celebrate, World Champion Jorge Posada is using his World Series bonus on arm lengthening surgery to eliminate his little T-Rex arms.