The Jaron Lanier interference pattern was bound to ripple its way back into my awareness, sooner or later. I blame this squarely on how long I stared at the pages  in the giant black+white coffee-table photobook ‘DREADS‘… in which his was one of the portraits.  And one of my favourite writeups, I have to say.

I immediately latched on to his picture / profile in the book because he was the first person I knew of who openly called himself a Renaissance Man. It was the first time I’d seen someone “confessing” to being a generalist / polymath… a way of being very close to my heart. So I think I have prolly had a thing for Jaron ever since then, subconsciously…

On a serendipitous jaunt to Coles bookstore at lunchtime recently, I found a book that resonated with me and after flicking through it a bit, I flipped it over and saw a thumbnail of the author. I kept thinking, where have I seen this guy? Why does he look so familiar…! :o)

Anway… Jaron Lanier is none other than the author of You are not a gadget, a book in which “The Blankness of Generation X never went away, but became the new normal” is actually the title of a section. (ouch). My main gripe about the book though is that Canada didn’t get the cool UK cover… Continue reading →