Longing and Subtext, Future-Proofed

Last updated on: November 13, 2013 at 2:18 am By Paul Fidalgo

The New York Times rounded up some opinions from authors about the effect of modern technology on one’s ability to write contemporaneously-set fiction, and as you might imagine the perspectives vary widely. These two, however, seemed to represent the poles. On one hand, fiction is based upon conflict, characters having to overcome something. Marisha Pessl rightly notes that modern technology makes it harder to truly alienate a character: The trouble with technology is that it eradicates a character’s ability to... Read more

I Got Mad at a Clever Hipster Thing for No Good Reason

Last updated on: November 10, 2013 at 5:28 pm By Paul Fidalgo

So this odd thing appeared in my Facebook feed yesterday, originating here, and my first response was rather shockingly visceral, something akin to, “Oh my christ you fucking hipsters I hate that you made that snooty, too-clever, showy-offy, hey-look-I’m-a-maker thing exist, let’s chop it up and burn it before it infects the culture, because now you’ve gone too far!!!” Something like that. I know, I know, but rest assured I’ve had extensive therapy. But then I considered whether I’d feel... Read more

The iPad is Not a Truck

Last updated on: November 10, 2013 at 3:14 am By Paul Fidalgo

In his review of the iPad Air, Nilay Patel longs for Apple to make the iPad the One Device. (Read my own review of the iPad Air here.) Recalling the iPad-as-car/PC-as-truck analogy, he reconsiders Apple’s usually-admired philosophy of boldly saying “no” to ideas and product features in order to achieve perfection: I don’t think most people can fully replace their PCs with an iPad Air. Not just yet. The potential is there, just off in the distance and over the... Read more

Star Trek’s Human-ish Aliens, Vindicated

Last updated on: August 12, 2014 at 8:57 pm By Paul Fidalgo

The aliens of Star Trek get a bit of grief for looking suspiciously like homo sapiens. I can tell he’s a different species because he has very slight ridges on his nose! She’s clearly an extraterrestrial because she’s got dots on her. And of course he’s an alien! His ears point up, and who would wear their hair like that??? So fine, it’s a fair cop. But let’s be fair, TV budgets are not limitless (particularly for shows for the... Read more

iPad Air: The Zen Device of Choice

Last updated on: November 13, 2015 at 12:35 am By Paul Fidalgo

I originally thought of the iPad as a kind of novelty; a neat toy for someone who can afford to have a frivolous third (or fourth) device between a smartphone and a laptop, with a Kindle thrown in for good measure. Nifty, but unnecessary. And probably not that useful, overall. I changed my tune when I better understood where an iPad really does fit into the life of someone who already fills his or her day with computer gadgets. Allow... Read more

The Longevity-versus-Novelty Rap against Apple

Last updated on: November 2, 2013 at 5:43 pm By Paul Fidalgo

There are many things to criticize about Apple and its practices. For example, it’s not at all clear that its Chinese factory conditions have meaningfully improved, and its offshore tax scheming is dubious at best. But there’s a new rap on Apple that it’s somehow sabotaging your device to crap out just when they’re about to release new gadgets, and that it’s forcing folks into some insane upgrade cycle that’s ravaging the planet or something. There’s no doubt that the... Read more

A Boy and His Baby Sister, Through the Chaos

Last updated on: August 12, 2014 at 8:58 pm By Paul Fidalgo

It’s been kind of a rough parenting week. The baby, at 15 months old, is teething (again) and we think has been carrying a stomach bug, which my wife and I now carry for her. You’re welcome, sweetheart! Halloween turned into something of a bust…okay, I’m being generous, it was an outright disaster. My wife and I enthusiastically costumed ourselves and the kids to do some trick-or-treating at my wife’s huge, artsy, gorgeous office (it’s a super-hip ad agency in... Read more

The Subtle Weaning: iPads, PCs, and the Upgrade Cycle

Last updated on: October 31, 2013 at 3:03 am By Paul Fidalgo

John Gruber on the transition of the iPad from “tablet-computer” to “computer”: I can tell from my email and Twitter feedback that there is much skepticism among some of you about the iPad as a full-on PC replacement, but if you’re thinking about this trend as switching cold turkey, dropping all Windows/Mac usage in lieu of iOS in one fell swoop, you’re thinking about it wrong. It’s a subtle weaning. Agreed. I used to be an iPad skeptic, perceiving it... Read more

The Functional Hair Shirt: The Utility of Regret

Last updated on: October 30, 2013 at 4:33 am By Paul Fidalgo

Let go of regrets, I am told. They are purposeless, serving as an unnecessary and often-overwhelming burden on my day-to-day life, my relationships, and my peace of mind. Even Toad the Wet Sprocket, perhaps my favorite band, sings in opposition to it: Shame doesn’t become you There are no mistakes in the final view . . . For every path you follow there’s another left behind Every door you don’t kick open there’s a million more to try And for... Read more

Creativity and Personality for Cash

Last updated on: October 21, 2013 at 2:45 am By Paul Fidalgo

Thomas Frank pores over the literature on creativity, and pins down its themes, motivations, and its intended audience: Those who urge us to “think different” . . . almost never do so themselves. Year after year, new installments in this unchanging genre are produced and consumed. Creativity, they all tell us, is too important to be left to the creative. Our prosperity depends on it. And by dint of careful study and the hardest science — by, say, sliding a... Read more