Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Creativity, Culture, Gaming, Humanity, Technology
A while back I was walking past a bus-stop near the office and saw this:
I don’t know why but I found it a bit sad.
The dismissal of a staple piece of 70’s life … even though the fact it was carefully placed on the nondescript bin, suggested the last owner hoped someone would pick it up to use in their home, because otherwise why not just break it in two so it could fit inside the bin?
But of course these days we have technology to play these games with.
Hell, I remember when the first ‘computer chess sets’ came out and it seemed like we were jumping a 1000 years in the future.
Playing chess against a computer?! What the actual fuck.
But for all the online games … for all the AI friendships and advice … games with people in the same room hits differently.
It may be able to be replicated by tech, but it never quite has the same finesse.
It’s why I still love the quote of Nora Ephron who – when describing things she’ll miss when she dies – said:
“Dinner with friends in a city none of you live in”.
From the first time I heard that, it captured my imagination and emotion … and having been lucky enough to experience that many times over the years, she’s right. Which is why as much as I love tech – and boy, do I fucking love it – it’s always ends up being a slightly lesser experience than playing with humans … because while the end goal may be the same, it’s the beautiful and unexpected shit that goes on in the interactions between start and finish that makes it a moment, rather than simply a fast-track to the end.
The problem with the tech bros is they’ve convinced us life is about optimization when really it’s about rabbit holes.