I have a former boss, whom I will not name, who has a certain attitude toward the digital world that is best exemplified by this photo. Enjoy:

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Faro and Doris Caudill, homesteaders. Pie Town, New Mexico, October 1940. Reproduction from color slide. Photo by Russell Lee. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress

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See more from Val on her YouTube Channel

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Painting by Robert Burden

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Photography by Jasper James

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And now watch this very clever spoof trailer for the OTHER social network…

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by Julius Santiago

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Read the full article here.

Yesterday Lady Gaga hit 11 million followers on her Facebook page (congratulations, number 11,000,001, you get a two-minute shopping cart dash round her wardrobe.) Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, as she is known to her Mom and Dad, is not the first artist who uses social media and the Internet to push her product to consumers, but she’s the consumate performer of the medium. So it’s worth comparing her to Prince, who yesterday proclaimed the Internet to be “dead.”

Rumors of the Internet’s demise are very much exaggerated, as all of you know. We are all users and abusers of it, amusing, educating and enriching ourselves often. So is Prince’s pronouncement wild posturing guaranteed to get everyone talking? Probably–he’s an artist who knows the power of shock (a concept Gaga is no stranger to, either).

This is not a post to say that Gaga is right, Prince is wrong. Granted, he’s got serious issues with copyright and seems to view the Internet as a milking machine that will steal your ideas, your money, and probably your girlfriend into the bargain.

So, let’s delve into the on- and offline presence of both artistes. Read the rest of the article here.

• Three things are actually “completely over”
• Prince says the internet is “completely over”

Read the original article here.

Prince’s Nonsense

If only they were talking about his music.

I haven’t seen an artist this out of touch since Metallica sued Napster. And even though the heavy metal foursome has been doing mea culpas for years, giving away music, innovating online, they’ve never been able to erase the taint that came from being out of touch.

Remember when artists were cool? Hipper than the rest of us in the room? We looked to musicians to tell us which way the wind blew, or that the vandals took the handles. Today, we’re laughing at Prince.

Actually, the hysteria began yesterday and hasn’t ceased yet. Word is bouncing all over the web, from the “Mirror” to “Boing Boing” to “Mashable” to Twitter to e-mail. This is the kind of promotion you don’t want. It’s the kind that killed Jessica Simpson’s singing career and Lindsay Lohan’s acting career. Suddenly, you’re a laughingstock. And it’s doubtful you can ever recover. It’s kind of like being labeled a nerd in high school. Your only chance is to start all over again in college. Then again, the old college Facebook is now ubiquitous. Commit career suicide online and everybody knows and it lasts forever.

Forget that Prince is plain wrong. (What’s next, is he going to rail against telephones and automobiles? Or tell us to stop using cell phones?) It’s the fact that he’s so out of touch that has us laughing at him, something no one banking on cool to succeed should ever want.

You can’t stop progress. Change happens. And it’s not good for everyone. Sure, it’s hard being an artist and getting paid in the Internet era, but that doesn’t mean you should become a Luddite and sign off. It’s not necessary to utilize Foursquare, but when you rail against Twitter and other new media you just look like a square.

Read the rest of this entry »

• Three things are actually “completely over”
• Prince says the internet is “completely over”

• Printed newspapers
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• Prince says the internet is “completely over”
• Prince Claims Internet Is Dead, Lady Gaga Disproves It

Here is an excerpt where Prince elaborates on how he’s releasing his music through printed newspapers instead of the internet. Some could argue that printed newspapers are “completely over” and have been for years, but I guess he doesn’t see it that way:

[Prince] explains that he decided the album will be released in CD format only in the Mirror. There’ll be no downloads anywhere in the world because of his ongoing battles against internet abuses.

Unlike most other rock stars, he has banned YouTube and iTunes from using any of his music and has even closed down his own official website.

He says: “The internet’s completely over. I don’t see why I should give my new music to iTunes or anyone else. They won’t pay me an advance for it and then they get angry when they can’t get it.

“The internet’s like MTV. At one time MTV was hip and suddenly it became outdated. Anyway, all these computers and digital gadgets are no good.

“They just fill your head with numbers and that can’t be good for you.”

Read the full interview here

• Three things are actually “completely over”
• Prince Claims Internet Is Dead, Lady Gaga Disproves It