One of the perks of having an eight-year-old, is that she’s finally old enough to start being useful.
In the spirit of bringing a little more luxury into our lives, we’ve started having the weekend papers delivered. It’s Isla’s job to bring the paper in each morning and deliver it to me in bed along with a hot cup of coffee!
I’ve been reading news online for years, and in its 2D format, it’s a choose-your-own adventure. The articles are all there and I quickly scroll over them, skimming the headlines and intro sentences. To read beyond them, I have to be pretty convinced it’s going to be worth my attention before I’ll bother committing to a new page loading by clicking read more.
Since moving back to the 3D newspaper, what’s immediately struck me, aside from how annoyingly messy newspaper ink is, is how different the editor’s curation of the paper is.
Firstly, their news hierarchy differs greatly to mine; their layout tells me what they think is the most important news that day, I may not agree, but it’s insightful nonetheless. Secondly, with all the content laid out before me, I skim my eye over 100% more articles and ingest at least double what I would perusing online. The combination of the content curation, and reading IRL, makes the whole experience richer and more memorable.
In contrast, the internet is a big ol’ wild beast, offering up whatever you want, whenever you want it. It’s like the ultimate street hustler selling watches from a trench coat, simultaneously proffering phone cards out of every pocket, while he shouts at you to ‘hurry up, look at me, look over there, now now now’!
By contrast, curation is what brings harmony and power to any situation. A ballet without a choreographer is just a troupe of dancers. Albums without a producer is just a jamming session. Interiors without a designer at the helm can turn into a ramshackle mess, with too many facets fighting to be seen.
Is it possible, in our haste to be everything to everyone, experiences have been eroded away by the fractured nature of design-by-committee? Freedom of choice sounds alluring, but there’s a certain welcome relief that arrives when we can hand the reins over and sink into a curated experience.