I have a huge lady crush on Ann Friedman. She’s killing it on the internet and I admire her freelance journalism career. (like omg check out her FAQ page, it’s too good for words.)
Her career trajectory is something I envy, but it also seems attainable or at least not uncommon. Ann writes weekly for The Cut, The Hairpin and the Columbia Journalism Review. Her work also appears in places like The New Yorker.
I’m pretty sure Her will be my favourite movie of all-time (not counting Star Wars) and while I was jazzed we could blog about it, I almost passed on the opportunity because I worried I wouldn’t do the film justice. Her deeply affected me. I saw it in theatres, came home, contemplated every relationship I’ve ever had, then cried. I’d like to think everyone has this experience.
Okay, real talk. Before this class I had no idea what augmented reality actually meant. It’s one of those buzz terms thrown around the Internet a lot, but I just assumed it was some sort of immersive video game. I’ve never really loved video games, probably because I didn’t grow up playing them, so I wrongly assumed I could ignore AR. Not the case.
I found lots of AR examples, but wearable devices kept showing up over and over again. After reading Gary Shteyngart’s “Ok, Glass” I wanted to find other alternatives. (I had previously read the article when it came out this summer, but reading it a second time was much less thrilling and I ended up thinking “What even is the point of Glass aside from taking video?”)
I found this article profiling an alternative to Glass. Innovega’s iOptik utilizes contact lenses with regular eyeglasses. They believe their technology can be a viable permanent replacement for conventional lenses. Like other augmented realities, iOptik will provide users with gaming, movies, apps and driving functions.
Here’s a video explaining the product. My thoughts below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DF7OvoHzL8I
Linked here.
Benefits/Drawbacks
I don’t see any benefits from augmented realities. I battle my technology addiction everyday and I’m not interested in adding another device (or really a way of life) into my routine. AR’s market themselves as “like a phone, but different.” I’m cool with my phone. And maybe this is just vain, but I have no need to wear glasses or contacts and I want to keep it that way.
As well, always feel like I’m on information overload and my eyes can only handle so many hours of screen time a day. I also have trouble sleeping if I spend too much time on my laptop. Despite my constant connectivity, I try extremely hard to limit my virtual communication when I’m with other people. I can’t even imagine carrying on a conversation with someone who is also streaming a movie in their glasses.
I guess my benefits are really my drawbacks, but I also think we’re nowhere close to have this technology be expansive enough to become popular. Having a device with a few functions isn’t worth it.
Obviously AR is here to stay, so I’ll just have to suck it up. Hey, if society ends up being anything like the movie Her, I’m fine with that. It was a good movie.
Just going to leave this here. File under “Maybe I’m not ready for the future.”
A group of young designers in the U.K. are working on an unauthorized sex app for Google Glass (or a future, sex-app-allowing Google Glass competitor) called Sex With Glass.
Hey guys,
My name is Kaitlyn Rosenburg and I’m a fourth year creative writing major, journalism minor. (This is my last semester, OMG!) I can’t even begin to imagine my life without the Internet and my biggest fear is dropping my iPhone down a street drain.
I’ve taken TS 200 and 300 in previous years and loved every class. Over the past three years, technology has slowly become my writing niche, both in topic and form. I truly believe technology is a universal theme, whether you dream in 140 characters or can barely operate an iPad.
I wasn’t in class on Wednesday because I was attending the Canadian University Press’ national annual conference with The Martlet. I spent five days with a bunch of young people who all own smartphones and all maintain active Twitter accounts. The number one takeaway from every session I attended was how traditional media like newspapers need to starting marketing themselves as media organizations that just happen to publish a daily paper.
I also talked with other student writers and designers about content. Specifically, understanding what readers want. One paper admitted their student body was not interested in news stories, so this year, they’ve redesigned themselves as a magazine with a focus on fashion.
This idea of tailoring content to a clearly defined demographic really interests me. As a writing student, I spend a lot of time coming up with stories and characters that will appeal to readers. My main genre is screenwriting, so the Netflix model really excites me. If you haven’t read this recent Atlantic article on their in-house analytics, I would highly recommend it. (House of Cards won a Golden Globe this Sunday!)
I’m not really sure how in-depth our pitch should be, but I would love to explore how analytics are changing the way media creates content. Does it only work for television and films? Journalists often scoff at sites like Buzzfeed, but perhaps we can learn something from their click-driven editorial approach. This topic could also touch on Internet privacy. Does it bother you how much Netflix knows about your viewing habits?