TechHuman – A new column by Scott Wyant

Officially, I’m a librarian. That is to say, when I went back to graduate school in 1989, there were only two places where people were really studying what was to become the Internet. One was the MIT Media Lab (part of the School of Architecture and Planning). The other was the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, which bestows graduate degrees in Library Science. Hence, I’m a librarian, with a specialty in Information Systems Analysis and Design. I like to flatter myself with the description “technological humanist.”

Professionally I’m an information science and technology consultant. For the last twenty years, it has been my primary job function to stay on top of the turbulent peak where technology, multimedia and design converge, and to try and extract what’s useful to my clients.

Staying on top of things has its own rewards, but lately it seems to me that everybody is trying to stay on top of things, and almost no one is trying to get to the bottom. Because so few people are doing that, it’s interesting to me.

Hence, this column. I’ve enjoyed writing “Looking Forward” for the last year under the nom de plume Ted Bellamy, but it’s time for something different.

One of the most important features of this column is that I hope to make it interactive — a conversation between us. Write to me — I’ll respond. Publicly, in this forum, if you say it’s OK. Privately, if you’d prefer. I won’t respond in seconds, and I won’t respond via Twitter or instant message, because that’ll defeat the purpose. No one gets to the bottom of things on social media. That’s like trying to grow leaves on a motorcycle. It’s not the right tool.

What can you look forward to reading about in this column?

The curious hollow at the core of the recent Consumer Electronics Show.
Does “branding” still matter?
How funny it is to be wrong.

There will be digressions into ocean sports, literature, and that peculiar place where humans and machines meet. And whatever directions you all suggest. I consume huge chunks of information about technology and society. Perhaps I can make that information digestible to you. And interesting.

Scott Wyant is a 20 year Culver City resident and technology consultant to business and professional clients from the entertainment, design, engineering, architecture, manufacturing and hospitality industries.  He’s fluent in Macintosh and PC, and welcomes your questions, comments, and suggestions.  You can reach him at [email protected]

Editor’s Note- The comment box is there for you. Get busy.

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