October 8, 2011

Mac and video games

The first time I used a computer was at my cousin's place. It was summer 1985 and it has been the very only time I visit him and we haven't talked since.

He invited me (or rather his mother) after a summer camp, and was completely excited about some stuff he wanted to show me. A computer. A Mac. I hadn't seen something like that before (I had to wait one more year for my first Atari).

It was on a big, wooded table, and he turned it on. Green stuff came out as it slowly became clear, and then there was a monkey or orangutan trying to skip obstacles to get his banana. We played the whole afternoon, and I recall myself thinking how great it is and how stupid, at the same time. But in fact it was a completely new experience, and that is --now I know-- what mattered.

I proudly belong to the last generation who grew up without internet.

This morning I watched the ad clip about the new iPhone 4S, and I had to think about the monkey and its bananas: I found myself having exactly the same reaction, both fascinating and stupid. It is an enormous achievement what Steve Jobs and this geniuses have done, but I am still healthy skeptical about it. No doubt I would become absolutely obsessed if I had such an iPhone. I will still resist.

Instead I will listen this melancholic and touching new song by Lana del Rey about video games. The clip is a masterpiece, just second after her --uff-- lips...



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