Wednesday, November 10, 2004

Why Wired's worthwhile

I've never tried to hide my absolute adoration for Wired Magazine. The best way I can describe it is that it represents the ultimate meeting point of technology and culture. It goes well beyond the typically product/service-focused rag to examine the underlying societal issues which drive adoption of said technology in the first place.

As such, it was the first publication that first challenged us to ask why we use a given technology. Up until it burst on the scene, the assumption was that all technology was, by definition, good. And as a result, we should simply focus on the features and performance, and forget about the implications of said features and performance.

(Sorry, it's early in the a.m. I'm not feeling all that great, and I'm exhausted. So I'm rambling. Thanks for bearing with me.)

Incidentally, the Web site counterpart to the magazine is, surprisingly, called Wired.com. It's one of my must-reads every day, and has given me more ideas for technology and regular non-tech articles than virtually any other single site. If you want to think, and think hard, you can't afford to not add this site to your daily must-read.

Anyway, I've used up enough storage space on Blogger's computers for one night, so I'll get to the point: Wired Mag's article, The Decline of Brands, is a fascinating cultural commentary that is typically thorough in its intent and execution. It's feature writing the way I learned it all those moons ago. It's why I'll continue to log in, and why I'll continue to be impressed every time I do so.

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