Steve invited me to share a story of mine from this morning, an example not just of old-meets-new (or even new-beats-old) but maybe of something altogether new that could never before exist.
Or maybe not: My experience is certainly not unique. A friend emailed three images from his new camera-phone, pictures of his hunting as it happened. I received them at the office, a flashing icon announcing each new image and a few hasty lines of text accompanying: words and images not precisely in real time but so close I was transfixed by them.
Suddenly I was neither here nor there---neither along with my friend on one of our annual hunting trips nor reading about one as written over his after-diner rum-and-coke. I could neither help him flush nor laugh out loud. I sat four states away, watching and waiting.
What is this? Just neat, I guess, and a little bit disturbing. What's next? I don't know.
2 comments:
Overnight I was thinking about this post and reflecting that this is the way we conduct warfare now: an unmanned "model airplane," equipped with a camera or maybe even weaponry, goes out into the sky to find the relevant prey while the "soldiers" sit in a bunker or van with tracking equipment and possibly the ability to "see" through the camera. In one of the Harrison Ford movies, a satellite watches the destruction of a camp in the Middle Eastern desert and participates to some degree, guiding airstrikes.
Not so benign as hawking and photoing. But we do seem to need some kind of anchor point or conceptual framework.
Blogging is in itself is a beginning to people sharing or publicizing their entire lives (and I'm talking perfectly ordinary things, not pr0n).
In third world countries there is a huge demand for phones with the combined power of portable computers, video cameras and anything else. They're completely leaping ahead, finding new ways of using phone technology. In Asia you can apparently set your phone to "advertise" your interests to others who are doing the same thing, so when you're in their proximity and there's a match, your phone will tell you there's someone nearby who shares your interests. Basically your phones do lunch and contact each of you if things work out!
I could go into a long explanation of the economics of how this happens, but that would be boring. I too have a friend who regularly sends pictures of his falcons taking ducks. Though he lives only a few hours away, it's a lot of fun!
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