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The new experience of text

I'm a fan of the blog, The Baseline Scenario, written by Simon Johnson and a few other economists who try to write in understandable language about the financial crisis. The blog is a good example of how solid thinkers who know how to write and have something to say can draw a substantial following. 

I don't know what the blog's traffic is like, but judging by the number of comments left by readers, it's got to be pretty good. Like many other good blogs, it will link you to some great material written by others in publications you would have never thought to look into on your own. 

In reading a post tonight about an article written by David Moss in Harvard Magazine, something struck me about the nature of text-based communication.  

Planning is not about insight, it's about foresight

The U.S. Marines launched a new spot today that is a marked departure from the direction they have taken in the past. The Marines have always pursued a recruitment strategy based around the idea of duty and of the higher calling, but they have promoted that idea with glowing imagery--pristine dress blue uniforms and the precision work of the Silent Drill Platoon.  

In this new spot, created by JWT Atlanta and directed by Simon Crane, the imagery shifts dramatically. After opening with three young men running towards a silent call, the action shifts to the gritty and ugly side of boot camp. Crane was a second unit director responsible for much of the look of the Omaha Beach sequence in Saving Private Ryan (i.e., the only good part of that movie), and he brings that raw skill to this spot. The result is a majestic piece of work--powerful, memorable, and with a compelling narrative behind it. The Marines have already exceeded their recruitment goals through 2012, so it's possible for them to take a risk with a strategy like this. 

Insights from cleaning out the garage: The Medium is the Massage

Let's start with some food for thought:

"These are difficult times because we are witnessing a clash of cataclysmic proportions between two great technologies. We approach the new with the psychological conditioning and sensory responses of the the old. This clash naturally occurs in transitional periods. In late medieval art, for instance, we saw the fear of the new print technology in the theme The Dance of Death. Today, similar fears are expressed in...."

Before I provide you with the conclusion to that sentence,