Yesterday we were
thrilled to have Russell Davies & Ben Terrett from RIG come and talk to
Platform. They talked about what RIG has been up to recently, and most
interestingly, shared thoughts on real vs. digital experiences. Russell broke
our experiences into 3 categories:

 

1.    Tangible things with a digital presence

2.
   Digital things with a physical presence

3.
   Moving past digital infatuation and analogue nostalgia

 

    The last in particular was most interesting. Instead of
choosing sides between digital and “old school”, why not redefine the way we
use these analogue tools and find ways to incorporate the digital world?  

         Ben & Russell’s
example: over the course of a year, they bookmarked posts they liked from
several blogs. However, they realized they usually never returned to these
bookmarks to view the article. If the posts were physically printed out, they
thought, people might actually take the time to read each one in full. They
found a quick, cheap, and readily available technology to print: a newspaper
press. Using the “dying” newspaper industry to print and share digital content
was a new idea. They printed 1,000 copies, and offered the extras for free on
their blog. Within a day, they were out of stock. 

        They have since formed Newspaper Club, which allows anyone to create their own newspaper for print
and distribution. They’ve created newspapers for Last.fm, Folksy, and the BBC
among others. The Platformers are super excited to take a stab at this one and
make a newspaper of our own.
       

Thanks again to Russell &
Ben for your time and a great talk. Be sure to check out Newspaper Club.

-Nicole & Platform