Commentary
The New Next:Welcome to Digilog
- by Johanna Beyenbach , February 2, 2009
Until recently, we talked about the distinction between analog and digital as if one was better than the other. Nostalgia for rituals led some to abandon their digital cameras in favor of film and
buy albums on vinyl instead of via iTunes. This is changing, though: The generations behind us have never lived in a world without the Internet, so they don't see a distinction between online and
offline. Instead of competing, digital and analog channels are beginning to function together seamlessly, complementing and enhancing each other.
A ubiquitous city
When it is completed in 2015, New Songdo City in South Korea will be the world's first completely ubiquitous (or "U") city built from scratch. New Songdo will have a digital infrastructure built
into it from the ground up that will link all information systems - residential, business, medical and governmental. Ways that digital applications will be woven into residents' lives include
blanketed Wi-Fi coverage; universal cards that can be used to pay bills, take public transportation and access medical records; and recycling bins that credit the recycler via RFID linking
technology.
Vinyl gets mobile
No longer do vinyl enthusiasts have to wait until they're at home to enjoy their collections. A year or two ago, recording
artists started sticking slips of paper into their vinyl record sleeves. The slips featured a code that one could enter into a Web site to download a digital copy of the record they had just
purchased. Some turntables today also have the capability to convert records to digital files via USB.
Wiki travel guide
Built for the Android mobile
platform by Mobilizy, Wikitude allows you to learn about places while you're on the go. Not only can you type in a location and get facts about it, but you can use GPS to read about where you're
standing at any given moment. The facts are paired with geotagged photographs that other people have taken of your location, creating an augmented reality experience of your surroundings with
called-out trivia bites.
On the vinyl, isn't this just one more "thing we don't need?" After all don't vinyl aficionados prefer that medium because they say it sounds better? In other words, the loose the whole point of the purchase by listening in digital - and if they wanted the digital version, wouldn't they just buy it in the first place? Like a lot of web updates, it seems to me -- not driven by consumer need, but by technocartic interest: we can and therefore we will.
David,
There are still millions of vinyl records out there we have from Mr. Peabody's wayback machine that cannot be used for outside the home. Those small turntables that can transfer vinyl to CD or downloaded or used as is are actually more space saving and more efficient than the old stereo systems or hifis. These have been "driven by consumer need".