2010 SXSWi

Looking at the 2011 SXSWi topics, several of them practically jumped of the web page at me. One, in particular: “The Art of Immersion: Tron,” presented by Frank Rose of Wired magazine. Ever since the first Tron movie came out in 1982, it has been a cult favorite, always surrounded by rumors of a sequel. Tron Legacy (for years it was mistakenly speculated it would be called “Tron 2.0”) will finally be released on December 17, 2010 – resuming the Tron franchise after a 27-year hiatus. If you check my Facebook posts, you will find that I actually began crying real tears of joy the first time I saw the Tron Legacy trailer last month. (My wife, who was sitting next to me in the movie theater, was not amused.) For those who are not familiar with the groundbreaking first Tron movie, it starred Jeff Bridges and was the first movie to feature computer animation. (Bridges will also star in the sequel, 27 years later, appearing as both his aged self and his computer-enhanced young self!) Appropriately, most of the first film’s action occurred inside the computer’s processes as personified programs fight to stop the evil Master Control Program (and, apparently, its 2010 successor in the sequel) from accessing and absorbing any program it chooses to link to. The pioneering animation was cool at the time, is still interesting today, and the overall phenomenon is FANTASTIC.) Much of my study time at Southwest Texas State University in the early 1980s was spent becoming a master of the Tron arcade game (which cost a whole 50 cents to play, instead of just a quarter). Back then, there were even two different arcade games, with a primitive computer game in the interim. The new movie will be accompanied by a 42 Entertainment/Disney interactive gaming experience, linking the movie and the interactive gaming media platforms – entirely appropriate to (and even mirroring) the movie’s subject matter! Fellow nerds, I’m pretty stoked about this one. “There are no problems. Only solutions.”

Another panel that is of particular interest to me is “Can Crowdsourcing Save Classical Music?”presented by Jennifer Bensko Ha of WQXR. The intent of the MFA in Mass Communication is to enter the field of radio broadcasting – one of my specific goals is to work as an announcer for a classical music radio station. This panel examines the identified trend showing a decline in classical music consumption by Generation Xers as they approach middle age (which has, for other generations, shown an increase in classical music consumption). What is to be done to appeal to this audience demographic? This discussion promises to have a direct application to my intended future career.

“I’m So Productive, I Never Get Anything Done” presented by David Carr of the New York Times seems to voice one of my primary complaints about the way things (dys-)fuction these days. So much non-productive “busyness” generating a negligible net output. Are people just consuming media, or are they also producing it? There seems to be a lot of activity, but little of real consequence or value – basically, there has an exponential increase in the frequency and volume of crap. “Is free flow of information making you smarter or just distracted?” This was highlighted for me just this week: Another graduate student and I were trying to contact each other about something. We finally were able to actually speak with one another after three days of e-mail and cell phone tag. (This makes me crazy!) I remember the days before cell phones and before e-mail, I used to pick up a “land line” telephone and dial the number of the person to whom I wanted to speak. Then I spoke to them. That system worked! So what happened? None of what is going on now is convenient, and it is certainly not more efficient. Most e-mails are not answered, and those that are generally not answered competently. Is this crumbling technologically-based, or does it have to do with the fact that people are so distracted by trying to keep up with all of their attention-demanding gadgets that they no longer know how to reach beyond the actual devices and connect with the tasks?

“Voting: The 233 Year Old Design Problem” led by Dana Crisnell also promises to be an interesting overview of how ballot design affects political elections. Though I am actually more interested in the mechanics of elections, as long as we retain our current electoral process the ballots’ formulation will become an issue, particularly since the losing candidate will always cry, “Foul! I lost the election because of someone else’s _______.” [As for me: I actually believe the Electoral College should be done away with. I believe we should use today’s available technology to hold direct popular elections where each ballot counts for one whole vote. Such elections could be done through electronic ballots, tabulated in real time when they are submitted. Everyone could vote from their home computers (or from public polling places) by using unique voter PIDs. … but back to the topic: ] Though (based on the blurb) I doubt I will agree with Crisnell’s political leanings, an overview of ballot design may provide an interesting look into one manifestation of post-election whining and whether or not it is credible.

(Possibly saving the best for last…) Jeffrey Zeldman. Jeffrey Zeldman. Jeffrey Zeldman. Without knowing anything about Jeffrey Zeldman, I stumbled across one of his articles well over a decade ago (back when he looked like Alan Ginsberg) and became hooked. This guy is a riot! I wouldn’t care what he was talking about – I’d want to go see him even if he was talking about Lawrence Welk. The fact that he’s talking about web design will just make it that much better. “Jeffrey Zeldman’s Awesome Internet Design Panel” promises to be one of the most entertaining and engrossing of SXSWi. I want a full video recording of this one. “Combustible wit will fill the room.” No doubt. You’ll be laughing so hard, you’ll wish you hadn’t drunk all that water during the previous break.