I watched the Oscars last night. I did so in my new “connected” environment – with iPad in hand, checking Twitter (though not tweeting myself – maybe one retweet), and some frequent perusing of the IMDB and Wikipedia pagers of nominee and winners. You know: “this was the third win for Daniel Day Lewis as lead actor – the only actor to ever accomplish this,” led me quickly to the IMDB pages of Daniel Day Lewis, Jack Nicholson (3 wins, but one for Supporting Actor), and then off to a few more comparisons (Meryl Streep, et.al.).
By the end of the broadcast, I noticed one of the bio pages (I do not remember which one, at the moment) had already been updated with the wins from the night. In other words, there was the updated biography within minutes of the win. Amazing.
I remember an article once in the Los Angeles Times about the chaotic activity on the cutting table the night of the Oscars. There were newspaper ads prepared in advance for the potential/presumed Oscar Winners, and then the final edits to get the ads in the paper for the next day. You remember them don’t you? The day after the Oscars, a big, sometimes full page ad – “WINNER OF 7 ACADEMY AWARDS”
Not any more. I don’t know anyone who checks the times for movies in the newspaper. It is my iPhone for me.
By the time I woke up this morning, the headlines revealed seemingly every detail of last night, from the lyrics to Seth MacFarlane’s most offensive song, to the precise words of his worst/most offensive jokes, to the secret arrangements to pull off Michelle Obama’s surprise live appearance (via screen hook up, of course).
And, on a side note, the lifespan of products that were “must have” is just so much shorter than it used to be. This morning’s headlines, from Business Insider, mention that the Barnes and Noble Nook “is toast,” and that the Palm Operating System is being bought by LG to use in Smart TVs.
Things are constantly improving, and getting better. What worked yesterday has been eclipsed by something better, faster, “cooler” today. And today’s triumph may have a shorter life span than ever.
The pace of change is simply accelerating faster and faster… And keeping up, much less staying ahead, is the challenge of the era.
First Friday Book Synopsis 