Remember a few posts ago I asked everyone to try to pick up the latest issue of Wired? Not only is it a geek's pocket guide to cool mysteries of science and pop culture (true uses of Area 51, rocks in Death Valley that naturally rolls uphill, secret menus at In-N-Out, Jamba Juice, Starbucks, etc), it's also guest edited by the truest of all geeks, J.J. Abrams.
I specifically left the cover story for tonight. Nothing big on TV (For the Love of Ray-J was yesterday, Lost is tomorrow, and I hate 90210 now because it's TOTALLY for chicks). And let me tell you what: it is definitely the creme de la creme (that is the first time I've ever used that term, and I think it translates into "the best cream of the cream of the cake" or "best of the best" or something- but don't worry because I won't use it again).
See, J.J. (we're on first name basis now after I e-mailed him and he personally e-mailed me back) is the lord of all nerds- he's a whore for technology and gadgets and he writes seriously the best technology-ranting article ever. In Wired of all things! And what does he rant about? People asking him how Lost is going to end. Of course, this is all a microcosm of all his projects, but still- he explains why spoilers are shit: why the course TO THE END is nearly, if not better, than the end itself. Also, he's a funny ass writer.
See the entire article HERE.
"Recently my production company, Bad Robot, decided to be ultra-secretive about a movie called Cloverfield [guest ed. note: Apologies to anyone who got motion sick]. When the trailer hit the screens right before Transformers, people freaked out. Not necessarily because of the content of the trailer, but because it was a surprise—they knew nothing about it beforehand. That was the point: The intended effect was to make a teaser trailer that actually teased. It worked like gangbusters, all because we hadn't prepublicized the film on entertainment shows and in magazines. It was a small experiment that proved what most everyone knows: Having all the information isn't always better."
"Think back, for example, to how we used to buy music. You would have to leave your apartment or house and actually move your ass to another location. You'd get to the store, where music would be playing on the stereo. Music you may not have heard before. Perhaps you'd ask the clerk what it was and she'd send you to a bin—those wooden containers holding actual albums or CDs—and you'd look through it, seeing other album covers that might catch your eye. You'd have a chance to discover something. But wait, you say, iTunes gives you the chance to browse! To that I nod, concede the point, and say, 'Bullshit.'"
