Twit, Screen Size, and Cory Doctorow

I was listening to "Twit Episode 84: Hahn, I'm Home!" and I will have to say that I was very impressed with some of the things that one of the guests, Cory Doctorow said. TWIT has had many guests, and although all of them are likable, I will have to say that I don't think I have ever been as impressed with any of them as much as I was with Cory.

One of the first things that made me kind of sit up and take notice was when the group was talking about viewing media on various screens, like the ones on IPods and cell phones, and John C. Dvorak didn't think that there was much of a future for smaller screens, and that he would never watch a movie on a smaller screen like the one on an IPod.

Cory was talking about how the computer, being as much of a multi-function device as it is, really demands media that doesn't require much of an attention span. This was mentioned as kind of a backup to what many people had said about E-Books, that no one would sit in front of their computers long enough to read a book, which really isn't true, as he points out.

Of course, partly because of my job, and partly because of my love of computers, I spend at least 8 hours a day in front of a computer, which is more than long enough to read a book.

Of course, what I am doing is looking at or reading things which don't require large blocks of time. Web page snippets and other items related to what it takes to do my job. I'm not even going to talk about some other things that people spend an ungodly amount of time doing on a computer, such as World of Warcraft, or blogging :-)

When it comes to all of these screens that we are seeing in cell phones and IPods, it isn't Screen size and resolution that is important, and this is also something that Cory pointed out, what is important is the context that the screen is being used in.

If I am waiting in line at a DMV, then I would be extremely happy with a screen the size of an IPod's screen, of course if I am in my living room, then I probably will not pull out that smaller screen in order to watch a different show. Leo backs it up with saying that what we as consumers are really after is a wide selection of screens, we want the screen that fits where we are, and what we are doing.

After listening to the Podcast, I decided to go ahead and look Cory up. They had mentioned on the air that he just released a new book of short science fiction stories called "Overclocked", but I was really surprised to learn that you can download the entire book online, either in print or in podcast form for free. He also has a whole slew of other stories available for download in print or podcast form, for free.

So I went ahead and subscribed to the site, and I plan on checking out his writing. You should too.

Related Links:
Cory's Website - CrapHound.com
Twit.tv - The Twit Netcast Network
Twit Netcast - The Week in Tech
TWIT makes Time Magazine's Top 10 Podcasts
The TechTV Crew