Thursday, October 26, 2006

Blogging's evolution

I have been invited to join in the discussion about blogging at the Reconstruction.org-studies in contemporary culture, website. I didn't have the time to do something academic but I'll be glad to offer my opinion, here it is.

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Over a decade ago I became obsessed with email discussion lists, the antiquated BITNET. A technological advancement provided the enabling force to satisfy my expressive desires. I typed out my every thought into the green and black abyss and occasionally an answer from beyond would float to the surface. I never saw those voices, never knew from whom they came but hearing them drove me to type hour after hour. I accessed the abyss from a college computer and most of the other computers were at other colleges, smart crowd, my fellow abyss dwellers, full of ideas and oh how utopian the abyss was.

I was present at the birth of the web browser and the internet, can’t recall seeing Al Gore in the room but he says he was there, probably so, he might have been one of those voices from the BITNET abyss as well, something to ponder upon. With the web, the green and black abyss came alive, it always had been alive, but now the creatures of the abyss were visible and how beautiful they were. Pictures, pictures, pictures and you could pretend you were an aspiring graphic designer with your savvy knowledge of html coding using Notepad. The crystal dome of utopia blew off because of Mozilla and the sky was literally the limit. Everyone had to have a website, groovy .wav file playing, obnoxious page design, but it was utopia.

Many innovations later blogs were born, got’ta ride that train as well and there were a lot of people on THAT train, the ridership doesn’t stop growing, I’ve read. What’s the allure of blogs? My interest in having the coolest website ever stopped because of blogs, I’ve made sacrifices in my creative impulses. So what’s the allure? Lower learning curve,that must be it.

Blogs have just the potential to enable as BITNET did but the craving masses demand technological advances that empower as well as make the process effortless. My website has sat stagnating for years but when I’m in the mood my blogs cry out to me for my attention. I’ve got things to talk about, share, use them to be someone in a community of our mutual development. My cultural themed blog, Primrose Path Travelogue, deals with the arts, visual, musical, literature and anything else. My cultural themed blog with an adult flavor, Empowered Sexuality, deals with theatre, film, society etc.

Blogging embellishments offered by other websites bring them closer to my vision of utopia. A calendar of happenings brought to you by Upcoming.com, images pulled from Flickr.com, a sample of books you might enjoy provided by Librarything.com, I’m sure to discover more embellishments. Videos from YouTube.com really turn me on I need to use Audioblogger.com more, note to self. But something is missing. While I’m sort of making a name for myself in the virtual world, the real world doesn’t know I exist. That problem can be solved by the next technological advances; free wifi access anywhere, public internet portals as ubiquitous as atm machines, total interoperability with televisions (I want to be on TV really bad!), pda’s, cellphones, etc,. The real world must feature unhindered pervasive access to the virtual world, every street corner “press to walk” button should offer other options; “press to virtual shop”, “press to navigate your way”, “press to engage your creative impulses”.

While I’m typing this I’m pondering the idea of a bar code on a book which you can scan and be shown the book’s impact on the internet society to which you can become involved. Future books will come with computer chips that access the abyss and you can interact with the community surrounding the book through the book’s cover installed with a video/audio hookup. My thoughts regarding Hemingway might become as significant as Hemingway’s thoughts and might even surmount his. A private night with your favorite book will cast you into a wonderful virtual world of Hemingway’s mind brought to you by SecondLife.com, blogging included for the internet newbie’s.

Blogging will come to pass, an ephemeral moment in our history.
Posted by ME :: 7:33 PM :: (full post) 0 comments

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