Think Different
Nozone IX continues to delight me. This time, it’s Think Different by Prem Krishnamurthy.
During January and February 2003, Krishnamurthy used only the available computers and programs at the Apple Store SoHo to draw the floorplan and write an essay about the intimate relationship between production and consumption in that space. Here’s an excerpt:
2. Production supplants consumption in the Apple Store. Prospective buyers are encouraged to try out the computers in-store until they are fully satisfied. This is not the same as trying on a shirt or even test-driving a car. Given the virtual nature of computer work, “testing” and “working/producing” can be identical: I try out the Powerbook G4 (17″ screen) by designing and launching a website for a client. In a radical act of reappropriation, I have turned the store into my studio.
3. Internet cafes are a thing of the past. Why pay to surf when the Apple Store invites visitors to “try out” the suite of internet programs available in Mac OSX, all over a broadband connection? Purchasing a several thousand dollar computer for home or office also becomes a questionable decision in light of the opportunities available at the Apple Store. At no cost, one can check email, scan photographs, download MP3s, burn CDs, shoot digital photographs, design books, and edit videos — all on the highest-end computers available. Exploiting the potential of the Apple Store for personal or professional projects, one becomes a benign parasite. Although such activity is unexpected, it is not forbidden by Apple. After all, the fuller the store is with people working away happily on Apple computers, writing emails and editing music and burning DVDs of movies, the more evidence that everyone is making the switch.
Update
Interview with Nicholas Blechman, creator and editor of Nozone.