Modern Kairos
Do you know about that funny thing, kairos ?
That’s a greek philospohical concept. If you want the “official” signification, check this page.
If you’re interested how I feel about this, read the following.
Well, the kairos is the good moment to do a thing, according to the context, your own feelings about what you’re planning to do. Grrek considered this as a real ethic behaviour, and a real talent that needed to be worked to be efficient. Pay attention to the world surrounding you, be aware and you’ll get the kairos. By the way, stoics, especially Chrysippe, have a fantastic conception of kairos for drummers like me.
The world has got his own rythm. Listen to this rythm, try to synchronize with this rythm, with the world, and you’ll be able to feel the kairosway more easily. Try to get against the world, and you’ll feel, literally, syncopated. Out of time.
Well, we may walk the very same earth than the Greek, but we definitely do not live in the same world. But we may have the same desires. What’s my kairos now ? And how can Internet help me finding the kairos, the precious opportunity that will help me follow the path I’ve choosed ?
As you may have guessed, I’m interested in philosophy and music. In making my brain works efficiently. And Internet is a wonderful way to get his brain moving about great subjects, with people you’ll never have met without the use of the Internet.
For instance, Alain Badiou, one of the leading thinker in France, who is teaching at l’Ecole Normale Supérieur de Paris, rue d’Ulm. I’ve failed to enter the Ecole at the end of my preparaty class. Do I have missed my kairos ? No, I’ve done my best, I wasn’t ready. But now I think it’s the right time. So I can go on YouTube.com, type Alain Badiou, and I’ll get that :
Great lecture on what is love.
Another example. I’m going to United States, I want to know more about famous american contemporaneous thinkers . Well, I can begin with that :
That’s just a sample of how you can use Internet to realize your most precious opportunity. Use it, among with others media (media work together, not against each other), at the moment you feel the most convenient.
Wind of change ?
Remember when you were kid… You wanted to join one of your friend…
So you pick up the phone, dial his number and wait for him to answer. You may even had the chance of dialing the number on telephone with a single wheel (remember your grandma’s one… that’s what I’m talking about)
Well, we’re done with it ! Well, at least, we can be done with it if we want to. Thanks to that kind of technology.
During my internship in Think-Out, a society of qualitive marketing survey, we went to see clients of a big french communication company where they just threw all their old devices called “telephone”. They’ve just extended the use of Skype to all the company. Which is to say : a device that helped us communicating for nearly a century is perhaps disappearing, at least in the population of the early adopters.
Well, this raise a lot of questions about impermanence and its effects. The only question that I want to ask is : what is really changing in the use of Skype instead of classical devices ?
Just take a look at this simple words to get what I feel about this question :
Electronical (classical) / Telephone
Internet (Skype) / Telephone
What is changing ? The left column, the technology, the device. But we use it the same way, the right column isn’t changing : we try to communicate with people that aren’t actually there with us. More precisely, the whole ideas we develop around the technologies helps us using this technology. When I’m on Skype, the technology allows me to chat, to send files etc., which is impossible with a normal telephone. But as I consider that Skype is a kind of telephone, I use it mostly to talk with my friends far away.
So impermanence is not to be considered globally on every new media. What is changing are the devices, but we can’t use thes devices if we haven’t ideas, concept, a whole package of representations that lead us in how to use that technology. And these ideas aren’t changing at all. They’re effective because we can rely on their permanence and stability.
So, when talking about changing and impermanence in new technology, especially medias, I always consider that a new media, or a new way of communicating, is always a mix of tradition and modernity, of change and stability.
Joe’s Garage, Act IV
Hi there !
Once upon a time, a strange freaky guy, and a damn good musician by the way, released an album called “Joe’s Garage”. In this album, music was forbidden, and musicians were put in jail, among with perverse producers (remember Bald-Headed John). But Joe, whose only crime has been to play music with his buddies in his garage, managed to escape, though he ended his story by working in a muffin factory.
The “time” was 1979, the freaky guy was Frank Zappa, and hopefully this awful story never existed, except in strange part of the world like Iran. Producers and executives keep running and ruling the music business.
But it’s over now. We’re in Act IV, remember ?
Since the end of the 90’s, the massive use of the Internet revolutionnized the habits in music production and consumption. And the producers and executives are currently freakin’out really badly. I won’t try to limit myself in a single point of view. I’ll just mention few key points that appears to me as the most significants changes, from various positions in the music industry.
-For the popes of music industry (not to mention pascal Negre here), the use of the Internet through massive download software (not to mention kaazaa, Napster, eMule here) is a real catastrophe. This is well-known, no need to dig further into this.
-For the musicians, this is a giant leap in music production. Everyone can publish on a large scale his own production, through MySpace and other websites, and this trend is strenghtened by music software that are easier to use. Strangely enough, this giant leap can also be a shortcut to get produced. This is what happened to the young french singer Grégoire, who got produced only by web users. And that’s Act IV ! The musicians have taken control of their production, and the producers can stay in jail, doing their perverse and bizarre things.
Yet, these two statements has to be considered with safety. Throughout the years, music industry has been used to deal with massive music download. Artists, well known for their fight again leaking, have surrender (for instance, Metallica : http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2008-09-10-metallica-main_N.htm”>). Besides, a website can be a incredible way to offer a full universe to their listeners, not only the music, but a whole artistic vision.
Downloading has become a way to listen to music, among with others, and the music industry has taken their shares of it. Some country are perhaps at the leading edge of a large trend, like South Corea where there’s more music sold by downloading on mobile phones than any other devices (http://www.austrade.gov.au/Music-to-Korea/default.aspx”>).
But I’m not a musician, I’m not working as a music producer, or in the music industry. I’m just a guy who loves listening to music, playing drums and discovering more about his passion and his instrument. What has changed for me with the Internet ? Let’s take the example of the song I’ve shared with you in my last post. Good stuff, isn’t it ? Right, I want to play it with my band.
- Admitting I haven’t got the CD (which is nonsense, i’m a huge fan of this band), I’ll go on the Itunes Music Store to get just the tune I want. 19 euros saved on that single step.
- I got to understand the drum part. Do I have to listen to it a million time, trying to catch every single note ? Yes, I ought to, if I really want to get the groove going. But I don’t have time, the rehersal is tomorrow. So I’ll go check the tablatures on the Internet, takes me 5 minutes to find it. And if I really want to learn that tune, I’ll get it down in a week.
-But where’s that sound coming from ? How does he manage to play it that way ? Reading is ok, but I need more. I’ll go to YouTube or drummerworld.com to see videos. And when you see Danny Carey playing, it all makes sense. This guy is a colossus, but still his moves are fluid. Ok, I’ll try it that way.
-And from drummerworld.com, I’ll discover that this guy played with Pigmy Love Circus. What’s that ? I’ll go check their MySpace ! And I’ll discover a thousand more fantastic bands that way !
Internet allows us to discover new music everyday, faster than any other media. And if you know in which direction you want to search, then it’ll be in a smarter way than any other media.
Well, Chapter IV has just begun ! And the Internet is the main media which is to be held responsible for it. But, as i tried to prove it, I do not think that the Internet changed everything by itself. The Internet has always been datas sent by cable and/or waves. Nothing more. The way we USE it, the way we THINK it, are to be held responsible. Internet is NOT the end of the music industry, it is NOT a democratic media. It is US, who considers and/or uses the media this way.
That’s why I think (among with many others CELSA students) the question is not : « Does the Web… », but « how do we use that Web ? », « what’s that Web for ? ».
P.S : Here’s the music I’ve been talking of in this article. Because talking about music is cool, but listening to it is even cooler.
Joe's Garage
Lateralus
Hi there !
Hi everyone !
Welcome to my brand new blog, were you’ll mostly find thoughts and ideas about communication and media, coming from a media student of 22 years old in the CELSA Paris Sorbonne, former student in philosophy (it seems foolish to be said right now, but you’ll see…)
You’ll discover more about me through my posts, so I don’t think I need some further introduction.
Anyway, just to get started, a nice song about peace, love and communication failures.
