Try as I might, I still cannot come up with a better description of why I started the Life on the Wicked Stage Ink Blot Awards other than what I wrote the first time I unleashed them on an unsuspecting public, so I’ll once again repeat and then extend those remarks:
I created The Life On The Wicked Stage Ink Blot Awards as a celebration. Yes, it's a celebration of the 1 year anniversary of this blog. But it is more than that. It is a celebration of a community that I have come to know and admire. The Tableteers that make up the Tablet PC Community are an amazing collection of individuals who know and work with the Tablet PC platform. They are fiercely protective of it, insatiably curious about advancing it, very intelligent, often wickedly funny, at one time very forgiving and patient, and in the same breath, scathingly critical when the need arises. They are also exceedingly willing to evangelize the platform to anyone who will listen, and in my humble opinion, have helped keep the spotlight on The Tablet PC in ways that may, in the long run, prove to be responsible for keeping the platform thriving.
Just like the technology that spawned the community that led to the impulse for these awards, that community is morphing as well. More and more the Tabletscape (and those who make Tablet PCs) seem to be acknowledge the reality that Tablet PCs will unfortunately remain a niche; or are just completely uncertain of how to do anything different to change that fact. But that community is broadening more and more to cover mobile technology in general and its members bring their passion to the coverage of topics far beyond Tablet PCs these days.
Last year, we all thought 2008 would be the year of the MID. It was if you count the iPhone. But beyond that, Mobile Internet Devices almost qualify as vaporware. Almost. Touch was the other big thing on the horizon, and yep, touch is becoming a bigger deal. But beyond navigation and some iPhone apps and games, it is still a technology begging for a usage scenario. Don’t get me wrong Touch on the iPhone is a great experience, but then that platform has other issues as well. Netbooks were the story of the year without question, and continue to be so. Microsoft continues to wane, Apple continues to excite, and as I write this Nokia is about to unleash something they say will be a game changer. Who knows what next year will bring. (Update: The unveiled what they call ‘the world’s most advanced computer’, the N97.)
This year was also an election year, and life here on the Wicked Stage got decidedly political, much to the delight of some, and the disgust of others. No apologies for that, but it always concerns me that some folks don’t see how one aspect of our lives ties directly into another. Heads in the sand only clog up the breathing. But I guess that is better than a head up your butt. Anyway, you’ll see that so much intersects by how many of the awards bestowed in one category below could be in another. At least that’s true in the Little Theatre in My Mind. So this year, there will be some Ink Blots that deal with some political topics. I’m also adding a few other categories as well. As always, the rules for nomination and inclusion (some dubious, some for actual best in class) are my own and completely subject to my own whims and fancies. Human nature, no matter the field of endeavor, is ripe with that which needs celebrating and that which needs derision cast its way.
Last year, literally within minutes of publishing the Third Annual Life on the Wicked Stage Ink Blot Awards, I learned that good and dear friend and fellow Tableteer, Marc Orchant, had been stricken with a heart attack that would eventually prove fatal. Marc was a good friend to many in the blogosphere, and a good soul to all who encountered him. He made us all better in ways that I don’t think any of us truly recognized until after he passed. Marc was the blogosphere. Marc was the recipient of a few awards last year and in previous years. This year , in his honor, I begin another tradition by offering The Marc Orchant Award for Platform Agnosticism. The winner of that award has a duty to perform though. In addition to their excellent blogging about technology across platforms, they must watch the latest Batman movie at least once a year. Marc would appreciate that, and also have a good chuckle over it.
Another good friend, and now Tablet PC MVP, Mark “Sumocat” Sumimoto, christened these awards with the nickname of ‘The Blotties’ in year one, and that sorta stuck. I’m still unable to afford some big soiree where those honored can get blotto while celebrating, so, buy yourself your favorite beverage, (and when we meet up, buy me one too), cue the dancing girls, beat out a tattoo on the drums, sound the trumpets (or the theremin) and get ready for the Fourth Annual Life on the Wicked Stage Ink Blot Awards.
Enjoy!
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