As a writer, I “take the easy way out” every day by using a computer rather than a pen and paper (although I do that as well)—or carving glyphs into stone. I also take the easy way out by direct-publishing content on my blog and others as opposed to writing for traditional media like magazines or newsletters.

Look, I prefer spinning with vinyl on turntables—it’s WAY better, immeasurably so—and I wish everyone would do it. But, I’ve gone to parties over the past couple of years where the DJs used laptops, and if I didn’t look at them, I never would have noticed a difference.

The point of club DJing is to play music for people to dance to (usually). The medium is basically irrelevant. Technically, I could say that it doesn’t even matter if there is a DJ, as long as the music is mixed well, but clearly this would be a poor experience for most people.

Anyway, thanks for the debate. It’s an interesting issue and something that will continue along the lines of the “digital vs. traditional publishing” debate, but on a smaller scale.

If you want to see what I can do behind a pair of decks, come to Margret Bar on March 20.

It’s a good question. Certainly more of our clients carry a Blackberry, you’re right. We do create Blackberry friendly versions of our publications for that reason. However a number do carry iPhones – the early results suggests it’s more than you might guess – and this was a chance to engage with those clients in a more substantial way. As you stated, we’re exploring somewhat with a project like this, and we’ve been very pleased so far. Clients are not just downloading the app, they are also engaging in conversations with their lawyers about the app, which is fantastic. We may not have a ton of clients with iPhones, but the ones we do have, are pretty excited about it.

Stuart

However, I wonder if an iPhone app is the right first place for Torys to be. As a Bay Street corporate law firm, I suspect that their clients are using BlackBerries not iPhones.

I find it amazing that in maybe five years time “social media” has become an occupation, when it barely existed before. Of course, social media are part of an evolution in general and mediated communication, but their impact is such that they seem to have come out of nowhere.

Augmented reality is weird, but I think inevitable. Though I do always think of how these systems will be powered and what sort of backups they’ll have. What happens when you’re right in the middle of something immersive and the system hiccups? Do you see a second black cat run up the stairs or does reality fall apart? And what are the ;psychological consequences of either of those things.

And is it possible to escape the “matrix”? Will Amish and Mennonites evolve separately from the mainstream of humanity?

I’ve said too much.