Tag Archives: nostalgia

New Media, Strategy

Networked Nostalgia: The Internet and Web Enters Its Middle Ages

In March 2015 dot-com domains turn 30 years old, and coincidently I will as well. The first “.com” domain was registered on March 15, 1985, some 6 years before the launch of the world-wide-web in 1991, and since then nothing has ever been the same.

Like many Millennials now entering their middle ages, I’m nostalgic for nearly everything from my youth, including the old websites we grew up browsing.  So I thought it might be fun to surf down memory lane, comparing the top websites from back-in-the-day with their modern counterparts. Combining tools like the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine (which catalogs snapshots of the web) with publicly available data on web usage in the U.S., here’s a look back at the top websites in 2005 compared to those in 2015: Continue reading Networked Nostalgia: The Internet and Web Enters Its Middle Ages →

Ideas

January’s 7

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Because every other meme or trend ends up getting shared on Twitter, each month I offer at least 7 new ideas worth remembering. In celebration of the new year here are 10 important ideas I want to share.

Application: Red Laser. I think of Sales as framing devices that convince me into buying things I don’t really need. Red Laser turns my smart phone camera into an barcode reader, from which it can search online for the best prices on each item. By adding much need price context to my shopping, I needn’t miss out on saving money on a good deal any longer.

Colleague:  Kristin Arena.  I met Kristin through mutual friends who (like her) studied broadcast journalism at Mizzou’s J-school (which is widely reputed to be the top school in the country).  I’ve come to know Kristin even better through Twitter and Social Media.  She is in the enviable position to take advantage of this convergence, having transitioned towards a career in PR. She would make a great addition to any organization interested in its future.

Game: The Simpsons Arcade.  This is the arcade game you remember playing in your movie theater’s arcade, bumping elbows and all, lovingly recreated as a new solo adventure on your iPhone or iPod touch.  Easily the best licensed Simpson’s game I can remember and worth the few bucks it costs.

Nostalgia: the Gawker decade.  Because journalists love retrospectives, we’ve experience a deluge of nostalgia leading up to 2010.  I think Robot Chicken got it right; today’s rampant materialism and memes are just tomorrow’s sitcom fodder.  Sorry BoingBoing.

Social Network: Tumblr.  OK so maybe Tumblr is more like a blog than a social network, but the same might be said of Twitter.  Although it’s nothing new, I’ve only started to use Tumblr to it’s full potential recently.  Besides The Brew Noob, you can follow my status blog Retweet This or my photoblog Speaking in Megapixels.

User-generated thingie: Waze. This GPS enabled app for smartphones combines the usual map/routing capabilities with crowd-sourced traffic data.  There’s also a gaming element to Waze that has me hooked. Waze encourages me to use my iPhone while driving about as much as the TomTom app would, except I get to keep the $100.  Now if only I had a car…

Video: Simon the IT Dummy. Full Disclosure: I helped promote this video series as an intern with 2ChicksInc. I’m sharing it of my own volition now, because I LOL’d. And because Simon is a Geek Stud.