The camera shop I mentioned a few days ago has apparently had its last day in business. Perhaps the signs decrying the onslaught of digital photography were a bitter lashing out at the forces that were ending the business. Or a bit of dark humor since they knew of their impending closure. Either way, it's probably a fairly telling sign of what happens to those who would aspire to turn back the clock in the face of progress.
]]>Just the people who are arrogant and offensive about the desires of their customers. So, to answer your questions. Book stores: No. Vinyl guy: Seems like they're doing a brisk business still. VCR repairmen: Is there such a thing? Who gets a VCR fixed?
I'm not an unabashed promoter of technology, I'm a strong believer in listening to one's audience. There's a big difference. Will there be a backlash and a lessening of hype about weblogs? Absolutely. But the total number of people participating in the medium will increase even during that backlash, and my professional aims are a lot broader than that anyway.
More importantly: If demand for weblogs evaporated tomorrow, replaced by paper diaries, would I go around decrying that paper diaries cause blindness? I'd bet you'd see me trying to figure out what it is that makes people like paper diaries better.
You're essentially accusing me of overinflated ego. I'm essentially saying that person guilty of hubris is the person who derided his customers' decisions to move away from film-based cameras. How do I know he resented the future? He put up signs on a major road in Manhattan announcing the fact.
But yeah, it's still not about digital cameras.
]]>Geez, Anil, do you have to be so cynical? :)
Joe
http://www.joegrossberg.com
To sneer about it, to cynically say "that's progress", is utter schadenfreude.
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