Jesse Schell - juggler, Disney veteran, comedian, game maker, mime artist.
Soothsayers, clairvoyants, prophets and other charlatans – eat your heart out. Here comes the future for real. This is what the world is going to be like.
Coming up – how social media and games will invade your real life – your cereal box, how you brush your teeth, your journey to work and the legacy you leave your children.
And – how GIANT SNAILS are to be integrated into London’s public transport system. (Not an April fool. Check out the date, and the photographic evidence below.)
But first – whether you like it or not – this man (that’s him up there snacking on plastic) is telling you how your life is going to be transformed.
He’s Jesse Schell from Carnegie Mellon University, speaking at DICE 2010 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (DICE = Design Innovate Communicate Entertain)
You’re thinking: Can I be arsed to watch a 10 minute video? Normally I’d say no. But it’s revelatory. Especially towards the end. So even if you’re not into facebook, social networking and interactive games, stick with it for the bit near the end when he explains how all that stuff is going to invade and transform your real life.
Our tech nightmare and most disturbing presentation ever, are how some people label what Jesse Schell has to say. He’s more optimistic that this world beyond facebook, with the integration of gaming with everyday real life will have positive effects – you’ll read better books, take more care of your health, be more environmentally conscious, etc. I’m not so sure…
It reminds me of the breathalyzer that some bars installed after the introduction of drink driving laws. The ostensible purpose was to let drinkers know when they were approaching their limit, so they could stop in time and still drive home safely. But there was an unintended consequence. (Isn’t there always?) What happened was that drinkers binged to see who could score the highest reading. It encouraged excess rather than discretion.
But either way, the question according to Jesse is certainly not whether, nor really when, but who? Who are going to be the people who bring these changes in and profit from them?
I heard about Jesse from my mate Ted. But you can go straight to the horse’s mouth. For Jesse has a blog too, two blogs too – Things I Finished. And perhaps more relevantly Gamepocalypse Now – about social change, gaming and technology.
Slightly embarrassingly, since first publishing this post, I received an email from Jesse Schell himself. Friendly and a welcome surprise. But a little embarrassing. As he pointed out to me: “Also, there is a 30 minute version of the DICE talk, in case you hadn’t seen that. Just seeing the final ten minutes feels so weird to me… but that’s just me.”
Er… Yes. The 30 minute version is what I originally saw. But due to some technological limitations I’ve been unable to embed it here. But you can see the full version at fox@fury or WIRED. (The shorter film I included here comes from globalbeehive.)
The latest addition to London's transport infrastructure.
But, moving ahead, as promised, on to the GIANT SNAILS…
It’s time to consider Trains, Planes, Automobiles and Snails. Check it out. It’s even got the appropriate London Transport logo.
More giant snails at the blog is mine. Some of the monstrous slime trailers have been attacked by graffiti artists. Tough being a snail, eh? Even a giant one.
Blackwatertown 
The Future! Yummy!
And there I was thinking that in the future giant snails would be bred for us to ride around on and eat! Imagine the practical application of ‘poking’, sending messages and looking at photos in real time, beyond the facebook era, and playing games in real life rather than on the computer screen!
Oh.
I think the giant snail breeding scheme was a strip in 2000AD comic. Or was that dinosaurs?
Not so far fetched and I suspect coming sooner than we think. I’m not so threatened by a sensor ridden future frankly. Sort of an expansion of the Frequent Flyers system.
Nothing to hide and nothing to fear kind of thing. As for snails, all you need is a few giant blue tongued lizards!
Watch out, Jesse may quote you in his next hilarious speech.
Really interesting, his video – the first time I’ve ever seen reality tv and organic food grouped together, but I don’t think his authenticity concept quite stacks up. Having worked in reality tv I know it’s not very authentic nor does it seem particularly genuine on screen. It’s success is more due to being focussed on entertainment while documentaries focus on information (supposedly). Which is why ‘popular factual’ is a way better term for the schlock I made.
Organic food is more about environmental awareness and the hope for health benefits.
As for Starbucks triple latte with REAL Swiss chocolate topping, well THAT may be an attempt to appear authentic. When you run a business in which nothing is what it says it is, that would be important.
Cool site. Maybe you should try to monetize it with
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