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Or, a defense of Microsoft.
Most people who know me are aware that I am DEEPLY, um, skeptical of the Apple Cultural Phenomenon. Which is kind of a shame, since I live in Brooklyn – probably the biggest hive of MacBook scum and villainy outside of the Bay Area. Not that I don’t love my iPod, and not that I don’t have Much Respect for the iPhone (even if I have zero desire to own one)… just that I get really tired of the smugness and proselytizing and evangelizing on behalf of an overpriced and overdesigned piece of hardware that – for my needs – isn’t particularly better than the $550 netbook I just picked up.
On the other hand, I’ve no great love for MS. Sure, XP has served me well – but part of my desperate, clinging loyalty comes from the urge to avoid Vista at all costs. I use Office, but because I have to – and I’m fairly confident that computers in Hell run nothing but Access and Powerpoint (on a Win98 or ME machine, natch).
On the other hand, the MS R&D team turns out the occasional wonder that makes me want to look at the Apple people and say, “This – this – is innovation.” One example is the World Wide Telescope project, which I first saw presented in the TED video series:
The other really fucking cool thing I saw from those lovely lads and ladies – also, not coincidentally, presented at TED – was this program:
It totally captures my fascination with digital photography, insanely cool image manipulation, and groovy 3D shit. So I was totally pleased to find that Photosynth is now open to the world at large.
I’m generally not an early adopter, but I did rush over and install this and create an account, just so I could give it a whirl. Of course, those who had gone before me had already made some valiant efforts – the Taj Mahal, the canals of Venice, and so on. But how pedestrian, I thought. Technology of this caliber deserves a subject matter more enobling, something more magical – something timeless. Like Gowanus, for example.
The system definitely has its limitations – I feel like it made some odd choices in the way it arranged the various panels, and the navigation is a bit confusing at first – but it’s still really damn cool. My first few attempts were a bit on the remedial side, but I think I’m starting to get the hang of it – hopefully I’ll have the chance to play around with this a bit more before I go…
Good show, gang – it’s almost enough to make me forgive you for Clippy.
