The new serendipity?

One old argument in the history of tech progress is the tragic loss of a side effect of an old technology, and that it will be lost forever with the new technology. But we can be sentimental about anything, even stupid things, things no one liked even when the technology was popular. Thanks to Nick Hornby, people of middle age bemoan the end of mix-tapes on cassettes, something I admit I miss. But does anyone remember rewinding those things? Or when the tape got caught in the tape deck, and you had to pray with a pencil in hand that you could rewind it back inside without breaking it?

The flavor of the internet age version of this retroactive argument involves the limits of the web. People who go to malls  or bookstores and say there’s something magical about how you see unexpected things when you browse in physical stores and that being online takes this wonderful serendipity away. Oh, The Horror.

This NYT article, called the digital age is stamping out serendipity, takes the predictable angle that we lose when the old serendipity and sense of chance is taken away from us.

It misses how every new medium can provide a new kind of serendipity. The web itself is hypertext, perhaps the greatest form of chance and change we’ve had in ages. With a single click we move, somewhat blindly, from one website and point of view to another, and to a new page with dozens of unexpected opinions, images or ideas. There is a kind of gamble in every click. Surprise awaits us on the other side, which explains how easily you can forget what it was you were trying to do in the first place. There’s a good argument for the web being too serendipitous.

In the end, serendipity is everywhere if your curious enough to look for it. Every footnote in a book, every insect on a tree, every word in every Facebook update or blog post, has a history and a story we can investigate if we decide we’re interested in jumping into a new story.

13 Responses to “The new serendipity?”

  1. wqw

    Is the M. Scott Peck reference deliberate?

    Reply
  2. Scott Berkun

    I was referring to the Robert Frost poem, not Peck’s book ( likely own a copy but haven’t read it). Although apparently I’m one of many who knows the poem by the wrong name. The Frost poem is the Road not Taken, however it seems it’s better known as the road less traveled, since it’s the closing line of the poem.

    The road not taken by Robert Frost

    Reply
  3. Catarino

    “Personally, I like physical things. I know my brain and senses are designed to enjoy things in the full three dimensions of a bookstore or outdoor market, (…) There is more for our bodies and minds to enjoy in 3D, end of story.”

    Agree. In fact, I have this idea that Amazon or Sony should make an e-reader that could be somewhere in between a real book and their gadgets.

    Imagine a device that would resemble an ordinary book, where 50-100 pages are made of electronic “ePaper” with “old” paper feel texture plus the advantages of gadgets like the Kindle: virtual bookshop, subscriptions, etc. U buy every book u want from the eStore and the content is updated on this device. Even

    Reply
  4. Neil C. Obremski

    Pages of a book remind me of rewinding all those cassettes, or the old VHS tapes I’m in the process of digitizing. There’s a local coffee shop I love to sit in and read my news, books, and blogs on the Kindle and the lazy part of me shudders at the thought of holding open a large tome and lugging it around. On the flip-side, its built-in web browser and “free” internet connection allow for that near-infinite serendipity you attribute with the web.

    I don’t have any point, I suppose, except that changing which objects you interact with is just that: a change of objects. I’m holding onto a plastic device, but just like the paper one, it transports my mind somewhere else. It has its own attractive properties and some day when we move on to another way of absorbing and sharing information, I’ll probably miss it too.

    Reply
  5. Scott Berkun

    Neil: good points.

    The funny thing is I love paper books. While I resisted at first, this love, now, doesn’t create any objections to the Kindle. It has its advantages. I resisted for awhile, but the more I thought about it the more I concluded what you did. I do think it’s the future, certainly for many people.

    For me I’m sure travel is the gateway experience. I travel often and lug books all the time. To have one device to read from makes great sense.

    But I do like the feel, the smell, and the touch of printed pages. I figure I always will, but who knows.

    Reply
  6. Phil Simon

    Good piece, Scott. While I do agree with Darlin’s point about the abundance of information, you’re right about being able to walk away from any site at any time. I’d argue that the Internet is just a different communication mechanism. There have always been “less than useful” radio stations, books, newspapers, magazines, etc.

    Maybe this guy feels that he has to act upon everything but I sure don’t. In fact, I often ignore links sent to me from people without filters–and I’m sure that the same is done to me.

    Reply
  7. Simon Fairbairn

    Dude. Awesome.

    Technological advances are just tools (not good or bad but thinking makes it so) and anything we love can be saved – check out vinyl record sales:

    http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2009/06/vinyl-sales-to-hit-another-high-point-in-2009.html

    Regarding the information bit – more information than can be digested in a lifetime has always been available to many people for free. Technology has just made it more convenient.

    But if you can manage to walk past a public library without getting all sweaty cause you haven’t read all the books, then surely you can learn to do the digital equivalent?

    You nailed the difference with this: “You can make an interesting experience boring, or a boring experience interesting, purely through your state of mind and by paying attention.”

    Boom! Either complain about all the things you can’t control, or change the things you can. Negative or positive.

    Like it a lot. Nice one.

    Reply
  8. Oliver Ruehl

    Nice one Scott.

    Serendipity. What a cool word.
    I’ll use it on my homepage from now on. BAM! (Warning: Horrid site. I’m an artist.)

    I just wanted to say that I never had to rewind my tapes very often. I recorded my favorite songs always 5 times in a sequence. Worked.

    @Catarino: “Gadget making people are so focused in features that they forget about the

    Reply
  9. 3d tech

    I still remember that my friends and me colleted a bunch of tepes and listen only one album ten times per day. hahaha

    Reply

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  1. […] The new serendipity? « Scott Berkun – Every piece of software can be turned off. Every email deleted. Every mailing list can be abandoned. The choice to feel committed to things people send you is an insane thought, as you might as well religiously read every piece of junk mail that arrives at your door or spend hours talking to telemarketers. If you feel obligated to do anything you didn’t promise, whose responsible? It’s not the technology’s fault, it’s yours. […]

  2. […] The new serendipity? « Scott Berkun – Every piece of software can be turned off. Every email deleted. Every mailing list can be abandoned. The choice to feel committed to things people send you is an insane thought, as you might as well religiously read every piece of junk mail that arrives at your door or spend hours talking to telemarketers. If you feel obligated to do anything you didn’t promise, whose responsible? It’s not the technology’s fault, it’s yours. […]

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