Comments for The Sound of Seagulls

Comment on The Future Is (Not Only) Digital by Jerome

Jerome — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 07:28:19 +0000

I think that bookshops will totally disappear over the medium-term. Unlike the physical book. It will continue to exist, although probably in a vinyl-like fashion. Meaning that they will be more expensive but at least you will get something physical and usually also something very pretty.

Personally I will buy both digital and dead wood books. But the latter only if it being physical adds something to the overall quality and experience. ‘Habibi’ would be a very good example for this: http://www.amazon.com/Habibi-Craig-Thompson/dp/0375424148

Of course you could also read it in digital form but the cover of the physical book alone is something that you can’t emulate on a screen.

E-books can be very useful in a lot of situations but I dread the moment where everything is consumed via a screen and physical books, CDs, DVD, etc will have disappeared from people’s rooms (assuming they had them in the first place …). The rooms will be so empty?

Comment on Children Don’t Stop Dancing by The Sound of Seagulls

The Sound of Seagulls — Fri, 20 May 2011 20:30:41 +0000

[...] “While nothing is easier than to denounce the evildoer, nothing is more difficult than to understand him” wrote Dostoevski as quoted in Sam Richards‘s powerful talk on empathy. His speech is a formidable exercise in empathy, wherein the American audience is asked to put themselves in the shoes of the Iraqi people. Empathy is perhaps the most important lesson that we were taught in the Design Thinking module: there was the time when we had to go out and ask people about why they were wearing that particular pair of shoes, then we had to design a new elevator button, and finally there was my endevaour to understand the children at Kingston Market. [...]

Comment on The World of Advertising by The Sound of Seagulls

The Sound of Seagulls — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 14:50:11 +0000

[...] month, I wrote a post about my favourite adverts. That list has just gotten longer. If you’re anything like me, you could not possibly care [...]

Comment on London Book Fair by Thierry

Thierry — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 10:56:28 +0000

I’d never heard of him either. I went there early to make sure I’d get a seat for Kazuo Ishiguro, and he was being interviewed before. He was a really interesting guy, I’ll probably grab one of his novels after this proposal is done. As far as I remember, he said he stopped reading fiction when he started writing it himself, and will only read it again when he retires. I guess he doesn’t want to be influenced by other writers.

I’ve mostly been reading non-English stuff lately, because I got fed up with “the next big thing” on the 3for2 tables. I love German author Daniel Kehlmann, especially his latest work Fame: A Novel in Nine Episodes (I think that’s the last novel I read in one go). Norwegian author Erlend Loe’s Naive. Super is pretty good as well, it read a bit like a modern day Herman Hesse. There are good authors out there, it just takes a while to sift through all the crap…

An English one I do love to recomend is John Banville’s The Sea. An absolutely amazing novel.

Comment on London Book Fair by Sarah Wray

Sarah Wray — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 09:46:34 +0000

I don’t know anything about Boris Anukin, but I’m curious why he no longer reads fiction. I’m actually getting to a place where I have no desire to read fiction. The trade just puts out too much crap every year. The nonfiction stuff is the only thing worth reading to me. :P

Comment on The Big Question I’ve Been Trying To Avoid by The Sound of Seagulls

The Sound of Seagulls — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 22:09:13 +0000

[...] extraordinary. Richard Duguid, editorial manager of Penguin, was one of my lecturers last term, and I heard talks by the likes of Patrick Keogh, creator of Faber Academy and Head of Guardian Masterclasses. To me, this is (almost) up there with [...]

Comment on The World of Advertising by Sarah Wray

Sarah Wray — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 17:34:29 +0000

[...] to me, but it has got me thinking about what I find most intriguing about advertising. Inspired by Thierry’s post, I figured I’d share some ads I really [...]

Comment on Now is the time to panic! by Sarah Wray

Sarah Wray — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 23:15:43 +0000

This was pretty brilliant, and I’m glad to see today was totally productive even if not because of the afternoon lecture. I think your project idea is a good one, and I’m excited to see what comes of it.

Can I call you Dr Thierry instead? It has a more familiar ring to it. :)

Comment on Now is the time to panic! by David

David — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 23:01:21 +0000

Today I had my dissertation proposal for this time next year approved. I immediately went on amazon to order a couple of books; I’ve written a vague draft plan of what I want to do; I’ve begun to write a questionnaire for part of my research, but … I know that come January, hell, come next week, my initial enthusiasm will have waned and I’ll end up scratching about last minute to hand in a pile of wank.

If I had a week or two from now to research and write 10,000 words I’d probably turn in something approaching half-decent. It’s just my way.

My conclusion: I’m a lazy, unambitious man.

Comment on What Yahoo!’s Shutting Down of Delicious Should Teach Us by Corrine

Corrine — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 16:32:53 +0000

Good debate here! Would love to hear your ideas on alternatives to Delicious that could be used in a classroom environment in the cloud.