I thought there was a thing going around about charitable reading, frankness, not being too polite, and not watching every single word we say lest it be taken out of context. Maybe I misunderstood. Or maybe some people–or some “sides”–are supposed to be treated more charitably than others?

Sigh. I need to think about this. I had a post in mind (re Windows Vista), but right now I just want to turn off the computer and participate in First Life. It’s been a long day that suddenly feels a lot longer.

Update Friday, February 9: Things got out of hand yesterday, partly because of intemperate language in some of the comments here (or language that could be interpreted as intemperate–there’s that charitable reading thing!), partly because some of us must have had unusually bad days. I think there may be some lessons about the antisocial aspects of “social” software, and I might explore those lessons at some point. Meanwhile, today is another day (cue Tara’s Theme). I’ll stand by the note that people who are willing to say anything critical about the video in question are a distinct minority, as the “awesome brigade” of link love grows ever larger–and that, for me at least, that doesn’t mean those who like the video are wrong, any more than those who like music that strikes me as noise or TV shows I can’t sit through are wrong. As Willie Nelson would say…nope, that’s too many obvious cultural references for one comment update.

I’m not turning off comments for this post, but I think the conversation came unglued enough to let well enough alone past this point.

You are certainly not alone, and if it’s a minority count me glad to be in it. I could say more but I’ll try to keep the negativity to my own blog. Thanks for saying this, though. It needed to be said.

It wouldn’t surprise me if there was some marketing firm in the background of its creation.

Update: I changed “informed” to “corrected” in this case, although either could work. After all, I’m thinking of posts about willingness to admit you’re wrong…and maybe, just maybe, I should walk the walk.

[Between the time I posted the original post and now, I've seen at least a dozen more instances show I'm decidedly in the minority among libloggers on this one... So it goes.]

While I can’t be sure about your personal reaction, it seems that many people don’t like Steve Jobs because they think he is a master of hype, of style over substance (cf. reality distortion field), and that he preaches to a choir of Mac fanboys.

Likewise, many people seem to not like the Wesch video because they feel he is capitalizing on buzzwords and employing a flashy visual style without really understanding what he is talking about (“Most early websites were written in HTML”; as opposed to what?) while preaching to a chorus of Web 2.0 cultists.

People have different tolerances for hype. Some find it immediately off-putting, while others just chalk it up to “showmanship.”

But maybe you just don’t like dark turtlenecks or something.

Kathryn: I don’t take that as a criticism. (And I don’t mind criticism, particularly if it’s of my ideas or writing.) I don’t know that I think that video speaks to those (like me) who learn through reading; it’s a visual lecture, not a coherent text. I’m not much of a lecture learner, and I’m not much of a pretty-picture learner. I certainly learn through reading (and sometimes doing, of course). But I can learn through visual means–I just didn’t get this video.

[I got a reminder yesterday. I was trying to get more details about Lulu's publish-on-demand details. They have a visual walkthrough, Flash, with narration and all. I picked up a few things. Then I went to the FAQs and picked up a whole lot more, much faster. For me, the visual walkthrough was essentially a waste of time.]

I’m not an iPod person either, for reasons discussed elsewhere–mostly that, when I listen to music, I tend to listen to music, and don’t much care for it as pure background. I think of the iPod as a smaller, more convenient, higher-capacity to a whole string of devices that either began with the Walkman or, maybe, portable radios. Great for many people, not great for others.

If I traveled enough, though, I would probably get some equivalent, because there are times during traveling when really listening to music is my favorite way to spend time–I have a cheapo portable CD player (and dozens of CD-Rs mixed from my ripped CDs) that I use now and then, (OK, it’s also true that Steve Jobs annoys me enough that I’d probably get some other player if I did get one, but mostly I’m unlikely to get any of them at this point: the likely use wouldn’t justify the price.)

It did actually help me to “get” XML and what all the fuss is about it. I’d been reading about it for the last 6 months, but the Wonder Video clarified it for me. I think it would be help someone with a very basic understanding of web formatting to understand its development.

I found the “rethinking” questions spot on and thought provoking – I haven’t seen them listed so clearly before.

Just a thought, Walt, not a criticism….are you a very visual learner? I don’t mean visually literate, I mean the way you prefer to learn things. I am extremely visual. Half way through my first viewing, I thought – “this is great if you love reading and looking..I wonder how people who learn in other ways find it”? I think Second Life is similar – great if you are a visual thinker, not so good if you learn in other ways – I think it would frustrate the heck out of a kinesthetic learner.

Nooow..my dirty little secret confession…..the iPod. Nope. Just.Don’t.Get.It – true. I know it works for more people than will ever visit Second Life, but it’s just too distracting and, well, superfluous to what I need for a calm world. So..hello to the “Don’t get that viral video” Camp from the “Why would you want an iPod, anyhow?” Camp.