Do-it-yourself (DIY) is back in style again and on bookstore (and library) shelves.  I recently read two of these books which take decidedly different tacks on the perils and rewards of a DIY lifestyle.  In Made by Hand: Searching for Meaning in a Throwaway World, Mark Frauenfelder, editor of Make magazine and Boing Boing (tech culture and weirdness blog) provides a pretty positive outlook on the benefits of doing it himself.  Manny Howard in My Empire of Dirt: A Cautionary Tale isn’t quite so sunny.

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I recently read Jaron Lanier‘s new book You Are Not a Gadget: A Manifesto.  It was a gift, and while I hadn’t heard anything about the book, it looked promising.  Lanier is an early internet pioneer counting early work with virtual reality (and coining the term itself) among his accomplishments.  And the basic premise of the book — essentially a contrarian view of the current state of internet culture — is interesting.  A regular practice of challenging common assumptions and examining choices made along the way is healthy.  Unfortunately Mr. Lanier’s arguments are poorly supported, and often based on inconsequential or incorrect assumptions.  I’m not going to recap his whole argument here — check out the linked articles instead.  But here are a couple of points inspired by ideas exposed in the book: Read the rest of this entry »

Anyone else notice all the 40th anniversary celebrations lately?  The Internet, Sesame Street, Woodstock, People walking on the moon, and of course the premier of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.  Funny, but as a nine year old I remember vividly the movie and the moon — Sesame street just seems like it has always been there, and I missed the Internet launch completely.

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Twitter and other companies are smart enough to let their users innovate — see what catches on — and then integrate the successful features.  At the university can we empower students to do the same with classroom technology systems and course management/learning systems?  Why not?  Our users are certainly a cut above the average Twitter user — at least more selectively chosen!

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As the father of two teen boys I can attest that they have no interest in twitter or email for that matter.  But then again is that such a surprise?  They live and communicate for the most part in their own private, evolving teen world.  And as they mature through their college years and then into the working world their attitudes and methods of giving and receiving information — how they communicate — will mature along with them.

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While I’m on summertime travel please enjoy this re-post from the Rodeworks archive.  Magnatune continues to be a significant presence in online music distribution, and proof that open access, free delivery and pay-what-you-will can be a successful business model. Read the rest of this entry »