Interesting!

I didn't have a chance to mention it in class, but I encountered a couple of interesting items recently:

Wednesday on msn.com, I saw a cool story about how films that use technology as a major plot device are unlikely to become classics, instead finding themselves woefully dated in a few years. Examples include 1957's "The Desk Set," starring Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, and the 1965 film "The Slender Thread," starring Sidney Poitier and Anne Bancroft. For good measure, the intro even suggests that last year's blockbuster "The Departed" will fall victim to the same fate, given its plot's heavy reliance on the use of cell phones. Article at http://tech.msn.com/news/article.aspx?cp-documentid=6246420&GT1=10938; includes fun speculative tags about how those films could be remade using today's tech standards.

And this morning on NPR, I heard a story about the resurgence of vinyl records -- they're still being manufactured, and sales saw a 15% jump last year! Experts attribute their "re-popularity" to a warmer, more nuanced sound, coupled with the richer interactive experience of holding the album, turning it over mid-play and watching it spin as it plays. So, the record player may turn out to be the Cabbage Patch/Elmo/iPod must-have Christmas gift in the near future after all!