So it turns out, #5: the Corona of the Eclipse
Recent rambles on the intersection of technology and society
Dear friends,
So here are some things I’ve been thinking about recently:
The Opposite of Phoneyness
In general, I really want this newsletter to be the sort of thing that you feel joy about receiving and want to open. I recognize that talking about COVID-19 just, well, isn’t, that sort of thing. But it is a Really Big Story shaping the way that people use technology in our culture and society, and it’d be inauthentic for me not to write about it when it’s on my mind. So, I’m focusing this newsletter on a few technology conversations around coronavirus — from the sublime to the mundane —that illustrate things about community and how we see each other. Things that I want to hold onto in this moment of crisis. I’ll return to some less dire news later this week.
“In a land where no shadows fall”
This photo of a doctor and patient in Wuhan, highlighted by Daniel Sinclair, is simply one of the most stunning photos I’ve ever seen. Think how it captures not only the doctor and the patient, but also everyone inside each of those towers, whether civilian, doctor, nurse, or patient. Imagine the battles that each of the people in this photo are fighting, the sacrifices they’re making on behalf of the human race to buy us time, sacrifices that all-too-often have been chosen for them. May we become worthy of it.
What we hashtag about when we hashtag about Coronavirus
You may have seen a variety of different names for the virus and the disease it causes — with the Chinese government strongly pushing back on the virus being associated with China, while SECSTATE Pompeo is very committed to calling it that:
But it turns out that aside from the geopolitics, there’s all sorts of nomenclature fights over the thing that, let’s be honest, everyone is just going to remember as “Coronavirus.” Specifically, no one can even agree on the hashtag — and the hashtag lots of English-speakers use has a second language embedded in the middle of it!
And it sounds really weird when Siri tries to use the hashtag with the katakana:
It turns out that the first draft of history is pretty messy.
Seeing Like A State School
Children in Wuhan are ducking schoolwork-by-app by getting their homework apps suspended from app stores… (h/t the London Review of Books)
Schools are suspended until further notice. With many workplaces also shut, notoriously absent Chinese fathers have been forced to stay home and entertain their children. Video clips of life under quarantine are trending on TikTok. Children were presumably glad to be off school – until, that is, an app called DingTalk was introduced. Students are meant to sign in and join their class for online lessons; teachers use the app to set homework. Somehow the little brats worked out that if enough users gave the app a one-star review it would get booted off the App Store. Tens of thousands of reviews flooded in, and DingTalk’s rating plummeted overnight from 4.9 to 1.4. The app has had to beg for mercy on social media…
Okay, I think we all need some gifs
Other news:
The term “enterprise software” was actually popularized by a marketing campaign using the USS Enterprise
Similarly, we can thank Richard Nixon for the term “data normalization”
Light pollution isn’t always caused by what you think it is — fear the glowing volcano!
A long story, but ends with an amazing Post-it. All air gaps are lies.
Next time, on Dave Kasten:
Must there be an Antimemetics Division?
Disclosures:
Views are my own and do not represent those of current or former clients, employers, friends, or my cat.
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