Sunday, January 20, 2008

The Upmarket Web

In The Sunday Times I write about high art on the web. The stuff I found was a revelation to me. Try this if you have ten minutes to crouch on all fours before the lamentable reality of your existence - always a good way to kick start Sunday.

7 comments:

  1. Nothing is left to tell. Indeed. Please excuse me while I administer myself a fatal dose of whatever is handy.

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  2. This is an excellent essay, Bryan. You certainly know the ocean in which you swim -- its multi-colored reefs and ineffably lighted grottoes as well as its sharks (long tails indeed) and its tangled skeins of non-degradable plastic debris.

    Thou art Triton Appleyard.

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  3. Sorry, my good man.
    I'm afraid I can't be quite so painfully sycophantic as everyone else seems to be, though you...

    But isn't this all from the Ministry of the Bleeding Obvious. You know, I did read this but it left me feeling a little, nice work if you can get it.

    Did you actually impart any new knowledge that isn't out there already?

    I suppose if you are internet illiterate this has value, but nothing beyond the kind of patronising fodder that is commonly available from that ailing beast, the beeb(EC).

    A nice funnel for your blog.

    C-

    Must try harder.

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  4. I have been known not to bring a map when going on long journeys to places I have never been before. My wife thinks I'm a fool. She's right. I always get lost. As for the internet, well, I rarely venture further than this blog and its environs. It's too easy to get lost, to waste time and to pollute one's mind. After reading your article today and the piece by Louis Wise, I can now venture a bit further afield with confidence (but I won't be taking my wife).

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  5. And claiming Banksy for your own really is a step too far.

    Roll up, roll up.

    Hop aboard the zeitgeist bandwagon.

    Where were you all 20 years ago?

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  6. I didn't catch your comment, Andy, before I made mine. I'm afraid I am what you refer to as 'internet illiterate', so a helping hand is always welcome from guys like Bryan. As for being sycophantic, that is an impossiblity: I am Irish. The Irish don't do sycophancy. In fact, we usually spit on those we admire. I was merely paying a compliment on this occasion. And compliments are not something we do very well either, but I'm trying.

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  7. All knowledge is already out there, Andy, but we all need a little help in finding it :)

    The article helped me, but I fear the famous "long tail" may get a little sore from heavy boots treading on it first. These will be the boots of the gatekeepers of the net, primarily ISPs and major carriers like our old pals BT, but also software outfits like Microsoft and Apple. They are well aware of our growing appetite for good things on the net, especially data that is streamed like the Naxos catalogue, and they'd like a generous slice of the pie. Fireworks over the net's infrastructure and the cost of access are pretty darn likely sooner rather than later. After all, if other public utilities like the gas and electricity companies can introduce massive annual price rises with impunity while mumbling vaguely about infrastructure investment ... Still, so long as Sir Richard Branson doesn't announce a dramatic rescue bid, we'll probably be all right.

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