another cool online fly fishin’ mag
- This topic has 13 replies, 9 voices, and was last updated Dec 2, 2009 at 10:59 pm by
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If you want to waste a few minutes of your day when you should actually be working…
Tight lines,
Dan Berger
Cabins, WV
http://www.mtnriverhome.comHey Dan –
I think if you’ll dig a bit in the archives, you’ll find several lengthy posts on This is Fly.
A guy named Nicholas Carr wrote a really interesting article in The Atlantic magazine last summer. It is called Is Google Making Us Stupid?. Basically, the premise is that the brain appears to operate differently when searching and reading information online, as opposed to in a traditional print media, with peoples online activities being more information gathering based, as opposed to deeper comprehension.
I have noticed this problem myself. I cannot concentrate long enough to read a long article online. I always feel the “need” to multi-task. If I want to actually read something that is published online, and really digest and contemplate it, I actually need to print it off on a piece of paper and go sit somewhere where I am not in front of my computer(s).
Maybe I am an old fart at 37, and maybe I have fried my eyes from too many hours staring at the computer screen as a lawyer, but the combination of the format, colors, and layout of This Is Fly is almost impossible for me to read (especially when coupled with my above mentioned inability to concentrate online). I was really excited about the concept when it was first announced, and I still click through some of the issues, but I am literally unable to read full features. I respect the huge effort these guys have put into it, as well as their alternative approach, but I just can’t do it.
I think this is why Catch works so well. Less text, more photos, more video. It takes advantage of what a really good multi-media computer can provide.
Anyway, I know this is a big aside from the beginnings of this thread, but, do others find themselves with this same problem? By the way, if you are interested in Carr’s article, you can find it here:
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200807/google
I would recommend printing it off, grabbing a beer, and sitting on the couch to read it. 😉
Jay
A guy named Nicholas Carr wrote a really interesting article in The Atlantic magazine last summer. It is called Is Google Making Us Stupid?. Basically, the premise is that the brain appears to operate differently when searching and reading information online, as opposed to in a traditional print media, with peoples online activities being more information gathering based, as opposed to deeper comprehension.
Jay
I generally agree, but most of the stuff posted on the internet isn’t worth reading. In printed media, at least an editor is looking at it before it goes to print. I think you get used to seeing poor writing on the interned and tend to dismiss even the good pieces.
Between internet stream of concious writing, without any self discipline, and texting shorthand, the art or writing has taken a major hit.
I haven’t had time to read the article, but one area that Google has the potential to make us smarter, is the wide range of research that is available.
When editing a piece for a magazine the difference between what I read on screen and what I read as hard copy is so vast I can barely relate the two. Somehow the two read quite differently (to me anyway). I always do my edits on paper.
Morsie
Guys –
Not to knock This is Fly, which I think actually fills its niche well, but at the end of the day you are literally getting what you pay for when it comes to quality writing.
Jay, I’m glad you brought that up. I can never read TIF either and I thought something was wrong with me. I think it tries too hard.
Zach, good point about getting what you pay for.
Jay, I’m glad you brought that up. I can never read TIF either and I thought something was wrong with me. I think it tries too hard.
Zach, good point about getting what you pay for.
No, it’s not just you.
TIF has a really intense edgy modern design esthetic which is attention getting and I enjoy it. I get a kick out of the mix tape in every issue too. I think a lot of the content is interesting in the sense that you get a feel for what is going on in many areas of fly fishing mostly by participants. The writing is informative and adequate but you really have to be interested to read a big article online. They used a famous Diane Arbus picture in a collage which suprised me. Its the kid with the grenade.
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