All hail media consumption
There’s this new little device called iPad. Not “THE” iPad. Just iPad. Like iPhone. It’s a proper noun, ya know. You don’t call me the Giesla, you just call me Giesla. However I am not a portable device. I am a human. But whatever.
I overheard a couple of people discussing it today. “It’s truly revolutionary”, the one said. “It will completely change media consumption”, the other said.
I looked up from my good ol’ black and white printed paper book (Linchpin by Seth Godin, which is completely awesome) and stared into space for a minute.
Media CONSUMPTION.
It was one of those twinge moments….you know, when your brain hears or sees something that it just can’t ignore and it makes you twinge. Like oooh….what was THAT??
It might have had a lot to do with the book that I was reading, which talks about making an art of what you do, and the loss of giving for the sake of giving and instead giving to hopefully receive. It also could’ve been that I was reading an actual book and not a digitized one. I’m just guessing. But it made me twinge and reach for my iPhone (slight irony) and jot down some notes.
I’m as guilty as anyone of being addicted to Twitter and Facebook and always having my phone with me. I like to know what’s going on, what’s interesting, what’s new. But I don’t think I CONSUME it. Consuming to me just sounds like you are taking in more information than you could possibly know what to do with for the sake of taking in information. It’s not important, it doesn’t really affect you much, it’s just constant information coming at you at blazing speeds.
Now, knowledge is definitely important.
But how much do we need to “consume”? What’s really important?
Slight side step, but related.
I toured a studio space this week that is on the Saint Paul Historic Registry. I fell in love with a space that had a closet that at one time had probably been used as a women’s bathroom (it had a door that said womens on it) and a huge walk-in safe. It was the only space that I had been shown that had these unique details. The possible stories of the place made me instantly interested. What was the office used for? What happened here? Why was there only a women’s bathroom? It was SO interesting! I wanted to hear the story. Every story. And subsequently, I wanted the space.
Back to media consumption.
If we’re spending so much time consuming media, how much time are we truly interacting? How many stories do we hear that are told by a person speaking to us and not writing to us through a blog? Do those blog stories capture that same passion that you can hear in someone’s voice when they’re talking about something that they truly love?
Personally I’ve read some really good writing that completely conveys the passion for which they write. There is some incredible talent in the blogosphere. But I can say that nothing compares to someone saying “YOU KNOW WHAT’S REALLY COOL??” and watching their eyes light up or hearing their voice waver. I guarantee I would get all wavy and excited describing the space I mentioned before. Why?
Because I love the story.
I also love technology and cool shiny things, but you just can’t beat a real life story and connection. Consume all the media you want, but don’t tell me you can get as a great story from a backlit news page on an iPad as you can in real life.
