May 16, 2004
In the future, you will be on camera even more
Attended Wired's Nextfest yesterday. It harkens back to the General Motors Futurama exhibits from the 1939 and 1964 World's Fairs.
Of interest to me:
- It was a total mob scene. I think its appeal far exceeded Wired's expectations. I wonder what it is about this that taps into something zeitgeist-y.
- Cameras everywhere. Resistance is useless; you will be recorded.
- Robots. It's funny. "Robots" seems such an antiquated notion of The Future, but they were in full force at the show.
- Cities. Were totally ignored. And I wonder why. Usually discussions of the future revolves around how it effects cities. I mean, both of the Futurama exhibits envisioned cities of the future. Maybe because Nextfest was so object-fetishist. It definitely missed out on an opportunity of putting all the things on display in any real context.
