Two of my browser tabs contain pieces that are related in that they are very well-written, and about technology.
Stephen Fry, British author and actor, recently burst into blogging with sufficient force that he scored a Guardian column (which is conveniently reproduced on the blog). The opening salvo, Welcome to dork talk, is a pleasure to read, end to end.
Mark Bernstein, the Tinderbox guy, is working on a series called NeoVictorian Computing which, while perhaps not quite as elegantly-turned-out as Fry’s œuvre, digs a little deeper. He is making a direct appeal for software to adopt the principles of the Arts and Crafts Movement. Since I am writing this sitting in a Stickley chair in a wooden house in the A&C style, I’m inclined to be sympathetic. Mark’s message resists summarization, so I won’t try. His NeoVictorian page is organized in a blog style, so you have to go there, scroll down to find the first article, read it, then scroll up to read the next, and so on. Mark: consider flipping it.
Contributions
Comment feed for ongoing:
From: Colin Adrian Campbell (Nov 01 2007, at 05:38)
Isn't the Tinderbox guy's name Mark and not Michael?
I'm pretty sure it is.
Thanks.
Colin
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From: Mark Berrnstein (Nov 01 2007, at 10:13)
Yes, it's *Mark*.
Thanks for catching the reversed sort order! Fixed now.
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From: Pete B (Nov 13 2007, at 05:09)
On the subject of 'Neo-Victorian' computing - I've always found William Morris' aphorism "Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful." a good show-stopper when tempted to spend money on yet another half-interesting, maybe perhaps useful gadget. Can't help feeling I'd free up a lot of disk space if I applied to computers as well.
Pete
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