A month and a half ago (or so) I threw my name and address on a form on some site that had something that looked interesting. After entering the requisite details, I remember thinking to myself "Hm, it's coming from the UK. Doubt it'll get here."
Yesterday in my mailbox along with some cheap Chinese electronics there was a biggish envelope with stamps that said "45p". Hm, what's this?
It was my copy of Things Our Friends Have Written On the Internet 2008. Number 800 out of a run of 1000, to be exact.
So, what's the big frikkin' deal?
Well, on its surface it is nothing more than parts of websites, blogs, and Twitter feeds printed on newsprint. So? Well, aside from those posts, tweets, and photos being really interesting it also demonstrates the extent that the internet has changed how many of us choose to get our information, the way we read, the way content gets displayed , and the way syntax has developed. That's not really a surprise. What I find fascinating is that when I think about it while reading I find my experience more like reading something online. I've only had a little bit of time to check it out, so I've been skipping from article to article to picture to the Mars Lander twitter feed and back to another article and then on to something else- and it's the same as how I "read" online. That's what I find interesting. Something that read online, I'd probably get through a paragraph or two and then skip to something else but the same thing on paper seems so much more permanent. Sure, I'm still skipping around but a lot less than I usually do. And the format combined with interesting content and a nice design make it seem so much...deeper. Or something.
Anyway, it's time for me to go back to work.
EDIT: Try to get you own here.
-John
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