My office. November 20, 2009 — I had a conversation with a friend yesterday about how quickly and radically the Wold Wide Web is changing in terms of how we use it as a communication tool. He joked that in 30 years someone will come up with this cool “Retro” concept of static web site design where nothing moves and the communication only goes one way.
Interestingly enough, I just discovered a software program that I’m using right now to write this blog. It’s just a text editor, but the program covers your monitor in black and the only thing visible is the green text you are typing and a green cursor circa 1980. E-mail is hidden back there, so is Tweetdeck, instant messenger, Final Cut Pro, everything. Add Bach playing in my headphones. Everything in front of me is simple, uncluttered, and refreshingly peaceful.
Okay, it's just a picutre from my phone, but it was amazing!
As a social media marketing manager, I don’t imagine I have much to say about questions like is social media and the changing landscape of communication really good for humanity, or is it making us a little insane? Just like I don’t image advertisers get to wonder about whether television rots kid’s brains or billboards cause traffic accidents. But every once in a while on a sunny Friday morning when the sun is coming up over the Hocking River in its simple and timeless perfection, and a black screen is allowing me to slow down and focus for just a few minutes (on just one thing), I am wondering. And maybe for just a few minutes today, I’m turning things off.
Call it—practice for retirement.
