Amen. I like a clear HD with R. Racer lights of pastel blue inside. I like to see the fans whirl like as if in the Tyrell Towers and hear the hum of process. I like the think that deep inside Reboot and Tron tribes clash for superiority of the gaming grids. I enjoy randomly killing tasks in the manager to thwart the Master Control Program's evil plans. But then, I design toys and games, so I might be reflecting a jaded / biased perspective. ;)
-e

super issue. have you guys seen this book?
IF/THEN : PLAY

Play isn't frivolous. Play is related to pleasure and joy. Pleasure and joy are, if not the goals, then at least the main motivations for human life. I think you are mistaken if you think there is a big difference between using the telephone for chatting or using it for business. Selling stock, buying companies, fighting wars. They are all ways of playing. Some ways of playing, however, are ethically and morally, and aesthetically, superior to others. There are only two things in this world: good art and bad art.
(And please don't mistake Apple-driven consumerism for emancipation and fun!)

This is a wonderful topic for discussion. At a time when any technological breakthrough is rapidly integrated into some sort of toy, we should think more about how we relate to technology -- and when we start serving technology, rather than being served by it. The line between play and work blurs, I think, when you consider technology as a servant, one which can do very useful practical things but also can entertain (like the court jester or the hired musician). The only difference is perhaps the fact that actually manipulating the machinery gives some people pleasure, but that probably goes back to the sense of empowerment that early man felt when developing tools.

A fascination with technology is not new. Even Rudyard Kipling (not exactly a Generation Xer) was struck by (even enamored of) the huge machines that drove steamships and industrial machinery. He seemed to be in awe of what tools men could create and that is something we have mostly lost. It is the style of a new computer that makes our mouths drop open now.

Wonderful said! I also believe it is a generation issue. Slacking is a virtue -- and even more for the ones after me (I'm born in the middle of the 70s). I believe we put more effort in our social relations now than our work, and that goes for most of us. No one will thank you for ending up stressed and overworked anyways.

I just posted a bit about play and pleasure on my blog. I think that the nature of the pleasure of play changes over one's life and one's circumstances, and that the emerging game-medium is going to start to address it as it becomes more universal in its reach.

I shall have your children, ye goddess!!

Roll on the ludic revolution! Delighted to see your special issue (got here from ludology.org). You may be interested in my forthcoming book (and current consultancy) The Play Ethic, along with my weekly Play Journal. We're exploring exactly what it means to defy the "Puritan ethic" with technology and lifestyle. best.

Big ups to an eloquent, concise and inspiring editorial. It helped me today.

oh! my goSh! the editor is soooo cuuuttteeeeeee!! i think i like him! ;)

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