The Fourth Estate

In Search Of Lost Time

After a long hiatus of not wearing a watch at all, I recently took possession of my dream piece - an IWC Perpetual Calendar. Intricate, complicated, and ironically - unrepentantly analogue. But the mystery deepened. As I opened the box containing the watch I discovered a small glass vial, sealed by wax and containing a tiny, perfectly machined part. 'You, or should I say - your great great descendant will need this on January 1, 2200', said the brand manager in response to my puzzled expression - 'it is the replacement slide for when the calendar year moves into a new century'. That set me thinking. We always assume that digital is the logical evolution of analogue, but could it be a relationship more subtle?

The Future of Publishing

You don't want to know what I paid for my iPad. Call it waiting list frustration, irrational fanboy exuberance or just plain stupidity - but it got the point when I convinced myself that no self respecting futurist should be without a MessiahPad. Now that I've had a few months to contemplate the depths of my Apple avarice, let me offer a few thoughts on what Steve's new toy might mean for news, books, authors and publishing at large.

The Fame Machine

A weekend in LA is a panacea for most ills, and a perpetrator of many more. It's also a great vantage point to consider the thorny question - what next for Hollywood? Earlier this millennium the humble DVD saved the Studios from a fate worse than box office. However as consumers shift to new forms of digital consumption - that is no longer the case. Many remain divided on whether the Web represents the future or end of entertainment as we know it. In truth, the answer may be both.