A a passionate German philologist and historian, Sven Krumrey, born 1973, was introduced to the computer age early by his Commodore C64 and later turned his hobby into a profession. He is equally intrigued by gadgets, good software, hypes surrounding the Internet and the contradictions of the digital age.
When I was little, we got a whopping 3 different TV channels and they signed off after midnight. My grandmother's TV was black and white and when the weather was bad you'd hardly be able to see the ball during soccer matches. Every now and then an amazing Hollywood flick was on and we all gathered in front of the box in awe. What sounds like a relic from the past was little more than 40 years ago. And it may serve to explain why the entertainment industry was initially leaping forward while much of the latest technology has yet to catch on with customers.
You know the situation: you're searching for a product and online reviews are staggering. "Wonderful device, works without a hitch, very sturdy even - I ordered another one for my kids! They were thrilled!" And so were their children's children, I guess. This and similar adulation pushed the product rating up to 4.8 out of 5 stars and now strongly motivates others to make the purchase. The system works because these are the opinions of real customers, real people like you and me. Unfortunately, that is not always the case.
Wouldn't it be great to always be right? Errors feel unpleasant and embarrassing at times, you might even be forced to reconsider your actions. Way too much stress! That burden has been lifted thanks to social networks and a wide selection of other media outlets. Even for those who believe that the earth is flat.
Every time a year ends, we're treated to the "top 10" from various categories. What were the most often used baby names, which car models sold best, who had the most followers on Twitter? A snore fest. One piece of news, however, woke me up from my winter slumber. A collection of 1 billion stolen data sets was analyzed to find the most popular passwords. Would it just be a case of same old, same old or had there been a learning process? What I found seemed like an invitation to unwanted visitors
It happened (again), a colleague was late and yet had no trouble finding a parking space. My appointment calendar is getting lighter and the first emails with Christmas greetings and goodbyes from colleagues leaving for vacation are coming in. There's change in the air, barely noticeable at first but then unavoidable. Things are quieting down, colleagues are lining up in the corridors having chit chats over their Christmas plans. You no longer mindlessly pass by all the Christmas decoration but start to notice the various adornments. There's small fir branches with golden Christmas bulbs on the window sills, they must have been lying there for weeks but I just started noticing them. Suddenly, Christmas is no longer a distant date.
