There
is something about New York City that will keep me from becoming jaded. I don’t
know what it is, the vibe, the classic top-drawer scenes imbedded from old
movies, or maybe that feeling that you are in the focal point of civilization
as it exists in 2012.
I accepted the gracious invitation of a
print supplier to a presentation of the latest programs for enhanced digital
content management. That’s a mouthful, so to break it down, I saw
demonstrations of Aysling’s Adobe, Woodwing and Picturepark systems. To break
that down a little bit more, these are the latest, cutting-edge tools to manage
enhanced, embedded interactive magazines viewable on computer tablets. I also
apologize for that redundancy because “tablet” equals “computer” for those of
us not old enough to remember floppy disks.
First
I was wowed by the technology, how you can scroll with your fingertips across
your tablet and choose videos and then within those selections more embedded
videos, slide shows, audio and multilayered comment boxes, etc. Anyone with a
tablet knows that these things exist but to see how they are created, managed,
digitally tracked for the rights, edits, augmentation and corrections, was
truly amazing.
Then
to have this done in the heart of mid-town, 8th floor of the
Time-Life Building just made it over the top. On the walls were the iconic
photographs, some which were Pulitzer Prize winners, pictures that you’ve all seen
somewhere, if not in your history books then on the pages of Time magazine or inside
the classic, Life magazine. If you never heard of a floppy disk, you thought
that they were pretty cool pictures. If you had a deeper sense of history, you
were wowed by their importance. If you were a teenager for the Kennedy
Assassination or caught Pink Floyd’s original
Dark Side of the Moon tour,
you were blown away, as I was.
I
was among the 50 attendees this afternoon. I am still a little kid, wowed by
big windows. I couldn’t help a gaze out from the Eighth floor to look down on
the Radio City Music Hall marquee and 30 Rock. A setting like that never gets
old. I’ve been to many outrageous places, mostly benefits of business
connections or at the behest of the newspaper I wrote for and I’ve had the good
fortune of meeting the famous and infamous. This afternoon was one of those
reminders that there is this strange world out there that I am allowed to glimpse
from time to time..
The
presenters flew in from distant points, Japan,
Hawaii and Switzerland. The hors d’ oeuvres were spectacular and the wine was
great. All that was required of me was to show up. But I did have to make some concessions. For
instance, I couldn’t wear my trademark jeans. When I look back at my salad days
in the 1970s and remember that I had to wear a suit to work every day, I pinch
myself that I can work on Broadway in New York City in jeans, any and every day
I choose. Okay, so I wore a pair of nice Dockers, and an ironed, dress shirt
with double-pressed collars. To make myself completely legitimate, I wore a
sport coat, not a dress one but a tight tweed pattern, more college professor than
wino, down in his luck. I am completely comfortable
in that skin, rubbing elbows with the pinstriped suits, required by their
employers to dress the part.
So
in this setting, comfortably dressed, fed and quenched, I saw the future of the
enhanced video magazine tablet. I was transported to another world, even if
only for an afternoon. Tomorrow, according to Jackson Browne, I’ll get up and
do the mundane again, pull on those jeans and struggle for the legal tender.
But as iconic as the Time-Life building is, I smiled when I got into the
elevator on my way out to Sixth Avenue, and saw nothing but rows of lights and
polished aluminum. In my marble palace icon, I watch a flat screen TV while I
wait for the elevator to reach my floor. All icons are created equal but some
are more equal than others.
For more of my writing please visit my website at: http://gregbmiller.webs.com
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