02.02.2020
Another Sunday, Another Naive Weekly - Observations From The Internet Wilderness.
For the first time in over 900 years, we have an eight digit palindrome day. Today’s newsletter has nothing to do with palindromes, but I doubt I’ll ever send another newsletter on an eight digit palindrome day, so please read this first paragraph as me completely wasting your time.
I’m writing today’s newsletter as we are sitting on the train back from my grandparents. They live in the middle of Jutland. In Jutland people speak slow and sparse, and the most important is what is not said, as my granddad told Ana.
Earlier today we jumped in our warmest clothes and drove one hour West in their Mazda to the infinite coastline of the North Sea. In my opinion, the North Sea coastline is the only real nature experience of Denmark; the only place where nature beats man. The half-broken German bunkers from the Second World War dotted on the beach seem like a solid proof of that.
Yet, it has been years since I visited the coastline.
This week I read that digital replications turned art into something that we no longer pilgrim to consume in a specific location. Instead of us making the effort and taking the time, art simply comes to us in our location, in our context.
Most of the articles and stories that make up this newsletter come to me. In my social feed, in my RSS reader, and my inbox. I want to change this. I want to become better at going out there. Going into the Internet wilderness and observe what’s going on. Because some winds can only be heard when you face them directly.
Internet Black Hole
Testimony before the House Antitrust Subcommittee
Regulation doesn’t rhyme with clickbait, just check the title of this post by Basecamp co-founder David Heinemeier Hansson. However, it is probably the most important article I read last week. Together with a few other smaller technology companies including Sonos and Shopify, Basecamp has started on a bigger mission to push governments to break-up Google, Amazon, Apple and Facebook.Your Sonos Is About To Expire
My uncle taught me that I find the best speakers on the second hand market. While that might have been true in the past, it seems today’s “smart” speakers have come to put an end to that. Sonos just announced that they’ll stop offering software updates to their oldest product line. The news comes only a few months after it came out that the Sonos bricks old devices with their Recycle Mode. If lifetime of your speakers were an indicator of progress, it seems we are worse off today.
Latchkey Living
Once you start spotting the key boxes mounted around popular cities you simply can’t stop seeing them. They are everywhere. And everyday they seem to increase in numbers. Photographer Anna Shteynshleyger has documented these physical signs of Airbnb infrastructure in the niche architectural media Urban Omnibus. (I discovered the article after reading Ingrid Burrington’s article on logistics landscapes in the same publication. If you want to zoom from satellites to lobby elevators, please read Ingrid’s article too).Online Moderation and PTSD
Casey Newton is out with a new article uncovering the inhumane work-conditions of online moderators. In his latest article Casey reveals how Accenture requires the moderators to sign a document acknowledging that performing the job can cause post-traumatic stress disorder. Rather disturbing coming from a company that proclaims to use technology to shape the society in responsible ways.
Roadside Flower
This browser extension informs you if the book you are about to buy is available at your local library. In a world where I’ve seen entrepreneurs ideate around renting out their garden and where people readily pay ridiculous day-rates for a co-working flex-desk, I think it is time to acknowledge and celebrate our public infrastructure (libraries, public parks, public transportation etc). This extension is one small, but significant step in that direction. Unfortunately Denmark is not (yet?) included.
Book Club
John Berger - Ways of Seeing
In the beginning there was the word, but before we were talking, we were seeing. John Berger’s 1990 book opens with pathological language, biblical references and a Walter Benjamin tribute. Over the following chapters, the language becomes more grounded and the final exploration of how advertisement installs a constant dissatisfaction in the viewer is as timely as ever. Thanks to Martin for giving me this experience.
Readers’ Corner
Following up on last week’s intro about pauses, Søren simply replied with one question.
“Do you know the Japanese concept of Ma?”
I didn’t, but I am happy I do now.
Naive Weekly
Hi, I’m Kristoffer and you have just read Naive Weekly - Observations From The Internet Wilderness.
Big shout-out to Emily who sent out her first Weekly Adventure email this week. I loved the title and will surely steal it once in the future.
Last week this newsletter was sent to 283 subscribers, among whom 12 are kind enough to chip in every month/year to support me making time to write this newsletter: Nikolaj, Antal, Søren, Dries, Mikkel, Tina, Aydo, Lukas, Hans, Csongor, Ida Marie & Angela!
Photograph by Ana Santl.
<3
Kristoffer