Life On the Wicked Stage: Act 2

The 8th Annual Life on the Wicked Stage Ink Blot Awards

Here we go. It's Ink Blot Awards time. A time for fun, and time for some introspection, a time for passing time, and a time for looking back. I've been blogging both here and at GottaBeMobile.com for over eight years now. I began this little annual tradition on the first annivesary of this blog as a way of celebrating a community that no longer exists today. That community was a group of geeks devoted to the early Tablet PCs. Things have changed quite a bit since, but here's what I wrote on that first anniversary as some context.

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.

Like I said, many things have changed since then. The Ink Blot Awards continue to evolve, without or without any hint of intelligent design. Those early Tablet PCs might as well be made of stone given how the technology has advanced. The media that covers Tablets (and other things as well) proves over and over again that the exciting technology we have at our current disposal doesn't mean that the stone age thinking of how we cover things goes away with new technology.

What hasn't changed and what's consistent about Tablets and mobile tech is that they offer a very personal experience. Apple gets this. Microsoft and others are trying to, but they insist on making devices while Apple creates experiences.

My attitude about politics, cultural happenings, and other things are also changing. I've also changed how I observe and remark about them. The convenience of Twitter, App.net, Google+ and Facebook take something away from this blog. I used to worry about that. I don't any longer.

I used to find most of what revolves around us as we make our way through this crazy life as entertaining in a "Human Comedy" sort of way. That has stopped, largely. What used to entertain more frequently just fills me with disdain. I guess that's mostly because those that pull the levers seem to view us all with disdain and they are becoming more transparent about it. I suppose I'm losing my tolerance, but perhaps that's because these days you can't talk about things in a nuanced manner. Whether the subject be politics or the latest gadget, you're either with us or against us, whoever the us is. Why remain tolerant with intolerance? Hating is the in thing these days, though for whatever reason I can't quite figure out. The ins and outs of life begin with the foibles of humans. We can create beauty and magic. We can also screw up just about anything we touch given half a chance. It used to be we acknowledged that, celebrated it, and moved on, bettering ourselves in the process. We might still do some of that, but far too often I increasingly feel like we're playing a sucker's game. Granted the game is being rigged by other suckers who just don't realize that's what they are. Rats in a maze can only repeat their paths so often before they pass out and die or get too fat from finding the reward. I often wonder why we get so many chances to make the same mistakes over and over. Maybe we're just too small to see the maze.

All pretense aside, the rules for inclusion on this little list are the same as they have always been. Award winners are subject to my own whims and fancies. Some are best in class, some are just frivilous, some deserve the small heaping of scorn these awards might cast their way. Human nature, no matter the field of endeavor, is ripe with that which needs celebrating, and that which needs derision cast its way. Good friend and Tableteer, Mark “Sumocat” Sumimoto, christened these awards with the nickname of ‘The Blotties’ in year one, and that sorta stuck. So we'll let it keep sticking. And finally, if you don't like the list, go make your own.

So, as always, hit the jump, cue the dancing girls, beat out a tattoo on the drums, sound the trumpets  and get ready for the Eighth Annual Life on the Wicked Stage Ink Blot Awards .

Enjoy!

The 7th Annual Life on the Wicked Stage Ink Blot Awards

Like everything else in my life in this insane year this post is a day late and a dollar short. The seventh anniversary of this blog was yesterday, December 3. But things in my life kept me from putting the finishing touches on the post and getting it published on the big day. On some level that's unacceptable. On others it is entirely in character this year. But then, maybe we'll see that change in the new year.

Seven years. (and a day) That's how long I've been presenting the Ink Blot Awards as my way of recognizing the anniversary of this blog. It's been a fun ride. It's been full of laughs. I'm hoping this year's awards will also provide a few chuckles to folks who stop by and give them a read. Although the history is mostly ancient and perhaps bordering on the irrelevant, I think it is important to provide some of it as context. So here goes:

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.

So much has changed in the time I started blogging that first year. It's changed with me and also that community has certainly changed. Those around me have changed as well in an eerie parallel to how things with Tablets have changed. Tablets mean different things now-a-days, although some of those who make them seem to have less penchant for success than Microsoft did.

What hasn't changed and what's consistent about Tablets is that they are still the very personal devices that they started out to be. Microsoft never recognized that. Apple did. Others tried to emulate without acknowledging the core reasons for Apple's success. And by and large they failed.

What's also changed is my attitude about politics, cultural happenings, and other things that I observe on this blog. I've also changed how I observe and remark about them. The convenience of Twitter and Google+ take something away from this blog. Sometimes I worry about that. Sometimes I don't.

I've become increasingly disenchanted with quite a few things this year. To be honest, I don't know why. I used to find it all entertaining in a "Human Comedy" sort of way. I don't find it that entertaining anymore. The ins and outs of life begin with the foibles of humans. It used to be that somewhere along the line we acknowledged that, celebrated it, and moved on, bettering ourselves in the process. While I think we still acknowledge it, and we might celebrate it, the only benefit we're deriving by moving on is to repeat the same things over and over again with an increasing frequency. I think this year's Ink Blot Awards reflect that with the number of repeats. Or they reflect my warped sense of things.

This was a year that so many things resulted in a "FAIL" that I think we have to look for a new buzz word for failure. Politics and the circus around it started performing without a tent and nobody cared that the clowns weren't funny any more. It's not that the clowns weren't funny that is maddening. It's depressing that no one cared anymore. Major tech companies became exposed for what can only be described as abhorent stratagies. New gadgets now depend on the same fickle first weekend sales that movies do. Of course if we had better gadgets being released, we'd probably see better results. Social networking became a parody of itself and all of that sharing resulted in a few shares too many or not nearly enough, depending on your perspective. Big media continued to prove that it doesn't have a clue. Little media seems to inexplicably want to follow that path as well. Oh, and Mother Nature reached up and smacked the planet around trying to get our attention. But aside from watching the compelling video and pictures we continued to just be thankful it wasn't us feeling her wrath, and sympathetic to those who did. The 99% became the Tea Party without the tea but with lots of party, because in the end the complaints are the same. For its efforts it got criticized by the 1% for being unorganized, dirty, and partying too much by the 1% that defines itself by making money and not making anything else so it can party. I think the 1% are just jealous because they feel like they have to dress up and shower in order to play their game. There's an old saying in show biz that if you put real life on the stage no one would believe it. I think if you put this last year on the stage, not only wouldn't anyone believe it, but Groupon would have a hard time selling discount tickets to it.

Last year's many repeats were due primarily to me spending the year dealing with my mother's terminal illness and ultimate passing. This year's repeats, I think, deal more with the fact that nothing has really changed. Change used to be a constant. I don't think it is as constant presently. On some levels I find that depressing, on larger levels I find that extremely human. I also find that it focuses those who are looking at life with 20/20 vision into a clearer view that someday may pull us out of the rut we're in.

Any pretense at aspirations aside, the rules for inclusion on the list are the same. Award winners are subject to my own whims and fancies. Some are best in class, some are just frivilous, some deserve the small heaping of scorn these awards might cast their way. Human nature, no matter the field of endeavor, is ripe with that which needs celebrating and that which needs derision cast its way. Good friend, Tablet PC MVP and fellow GBM contributor, Mark “Sumocat” Sumimoto, christened these awards with the nickname of ‘The Blotties’ in year one, and that sorta stuck. So we'll let it keep sticking. And finally, if you don't like the list, go make your own.

So, as always, hit the jump, cue the dancing girls, beat out a tattoo on the drums, sound the trumpets (or the theremin) and get ready for the Seventh Annual Life on the Wicked Stage Ink Blot Awards .

Enjoy!

Six Years of Life on the Wicked Stage

Six years seems like a lifetime in Internet years. But at the same time it seems like only yesterday that I started blogging. This has been what I hope will be the last of a period of challenging years in my life on many levels. I'm not wishing for a life without challenges. Rather, I'd prefer challenges that don't seem to suck the oxygen out of the air. My mother passed away this year after a long illness. I miss her terribly. Life at Wayside Theatre continues to be a day to day struggle but in the end, even with the challenges, we're still kicking. These two things occupied much of my energy and my life.

But every now and then I'd come back here. As I've said before, I come here to share something. Sometimes as a refuge. Sometimes as a shield against whatever challenge I'm facing. I still find it amazing, especially since the quantity of content has dropped a bit, that others come here as well. In fact they are coming in increasing numbers, which is even more amazing. I'm grateful for each person who stops by and hope they get something back in return.

As always, Life on the Wicked Stage is the place I share what amuses me, bemuses me, pisses me off, or makes me smile. The coverage covers a wide range of things. Some may think too many. But life covers a range of things as well. I try to celebrate the good I find along the way and also denigrate the idiocy and hypocrisy that seems all too prevalent. To say this blog is an extension of me would be arrogant and but also true.

When this blog turned one year old I created the Annual Life on the Wicked Stage Ink Blot Awards as a form of celebration. The creation story is in this year's award post. They've shifted and changed over the years, but they are still something that gives me joy and I hope give the same to those awarded. There's enough wackiness, weirdness, and wonder in the world and I try to recognize the stuff that means something to me. If you're new here enjoy. If you're a regular I hope you enjoy as well. As always I'll revise slightly my introduction to this year's fun and games.

As we head into year seven, I hope that through some intelligently designed construct what happens here will continue to evolve as I do. In the meantime, join with me as we celebrate six years of Life on the Wicked Stage: Act 2 with the Sixth Annual Life on the Wicked Stage Ink Blot Awards.

The Sixth Annual Life on the Wicked Stage Ink Blot Awards

Here we go again with another edition of the Life on the Wicked Stage Ink Blot Awards. Six years of this fun is quite a bit, but hey, it's still fun. As I’ve said each year since year two of these awards there is no better description as to why they exist, or why I created them, than what I said the first year. So, here's a bit of history.

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.

Tablet PCs as we’ve known them from the past are basically a dinosaur, thanks largely to Microsoft. The community that loved them has headed off into different directions mostly searching for a mobile Holy Grail. Some think the iPad is that device. Some have hope for Android and what it might be. But we all step over the graves of things like UMPCs, MIDs, and maybe soon Netbooks, while we're looking for that magical mobile whatever. Such are the times, such are the trials, and such are the tales of those who loved Tablets. The majority of mobile gadget entries, including Tablets and slates still look more like odd independent films trying to find distribution. Meanwhile Apple has changed the calendar and the culture in its favor and looks to dominate for some time to come. Apple sucked the oxygen away from anyone who thought they had a chance in this year that was supposed to be "The Year of the Tablet." Turns out it was the year of Apple.

The wacky world of the web continues to be wacky. Facebook is growing so rapidly that soon it looks like it might be the web. Google throws things at the web like a bad chef tossing spaghetti at a wall to see if it is done. Microsoft is trying to make a comeback against long odds and we're all still tweeting, locating, searching, and surfing to what end who knows.

What we call politics these days continued to demean the term, if that's possible. We've finally crossed the Rubicon where the winners are the best liars regardless of the game. Lying, cheating, and stealing are celebrated when it brings victory in ways that should make any mother's toes curl. No where is this more apparent than this week's debate over Don't Ask, Don't Tell, a law that forces the military culture, one that is built on integrity, to lie in order to get by. If that isn't warped I don't know what is and if you call it compromise, then I think we all better start forgetting compromise as a concept pretty soon. The Wikileaks circus, however, proves that if you try to point out the lies you can still get your butt in trouble, even if the lies you are revealing aren't that big a deal anyway. But as I said the lying isn't just relegated to what used to be called the "art of the possible." It's now pervasive in all segments of society. I'm assuming that shortly we'll dispense with courses in ethics and replace them with courses in how to lie.

So this year's awards will cover a wide range of topics but I'll caveat that by saying that there are a lot of repeats. Part of that is due to my being preoccupied with my Mother's terminal illness and her passing. Part of that is due to the fact that there weren't a lot of new folks jumping up and demanding my attention.

The rules for nomination and inclusion (some dubious, some for actual best in class, some just for frivolity) 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. That last bit seems even more pertinent this year. Good friend, Tablet PC MVP and fellow GBM contributor, Mark “Sumocat” Sumimoto, christened these awards with the nickname of ‘The Blotties’ in year one, and that sorta stuck. So we'll let it keep sticking. If you don't like the list, go make your own.

I used to lament that I couldn't afford some sort of bash where those honored could get blotto while celebrating. I don't lament that anymore as many of the folks on the list seem to do well enough at that on their own. But if our paths happen to cross, I'll buy you one, if you do the same in return.

So, as always, cue the dancing girls, beat out a tattoo on the drums, sound the trumpets (or the theremin) and get ready for the Sixth Annual Life on the Wicked Stage Ink Blot Awards . Enjoy!

Repeats From Previous Years That Are Still The Best This Year.

• Still the Best Blogger That I Follow: Cliff Gerrish and his blog Echovar
• Still the Best Kept Software Secret that Microsoft Doesn’t Want Anyone To Know About: OneNote
• Still the Best Arrogance: Apple
• Still the Best Tech Blogger Who I Wish Was Still Blogging Award: Rob Bushway
• Still the Best Weekly Feature on a Blog for This Week In Mobile Tech Manor: James Kendrick
• Still the Best I Wish I Twittered That for Comic Tweets That Sum It All Up Nicely Award: Rex Hammond
• Still the Best Why Do We Call It Windows Live Essentials When it is Essentially the Slowest Download of Any Cloud App There Is Award: Windows Live Essentials
• Still the Best Internet Misanthropes: Tie-Loren Feldman and Andrew Keen
• Still the Best I’m Going to be the Last Nokia Fan Blogging and Standing Award: Matt Miller
• Still the Most Fickle and Most Fun Social Networking Advocate Award: Robert Scoble
• Still the Best We’ve Got Less Fail Whales Than We Used To But We Can Still Fail When You Need Us Most Award: Twitter
• Still the Best Tablet PC Blogger: Mark Sumocat Sumimoto
• Still the Best Geek I Follow on Twitter Even Though I Don’t Agree with What He/She Says Award: Michael Gartenberg
• Still the Best Podcast Host: Leo LaPorte
• Still the Best Thorn in Right Wingers Side Award: Shoq
• Still the Best Personal Cloud Solution: PogoPlug
• Still the Best Proof That "Anyone Can Be Replaced” May Not Be Such a Good Maxim Award:David Gregory
• Still the Best Proof That Life Doesn’t Begin at Conception Award and May Never Begin for Some Award: The Tea Party
• Still the Best Tech Blogger: MG Sielger

Blogging and the Web

• Best and Most Missed Geek Blogger: Loren Heiny
• Best Crossover Geek Who Does Print and Blogging: Dwight Silverman
• Best Blogger and Tweeter I Discovered This Year: Jay Rosen
• Best Sellout of the Year: TechCrunch
• Best New Mobile Computing Blog of the Year: Mobiputing
• Best Apple Hater: Sascha Pallenberg
• Best Fruit Hater:jkkmobile
• Best We Still Cover Netbooks Even Though Nobody Cares Award: Steve "Chippy" Paine, Sascha Pallenberg, jkkmobile
• Best and Craziest Black Friday Coverage: Notebooks.com
• Best I'm Going to Figure Out How to Make You Pay For My Content if it Kills Me: Rupert Murdoch
• Best Twitter List I Follow: The Circle of Mickeleh
• Best Out of the Way, We're Taking Over the Web and You Will Like It: Facebook
• Best New Blogging Colleague I've Met in Person: Chris Leckness
• Best New Blogging Colleague I've Never Met: Choung Nguyen
• Best How Does He Keep Going: Xavier Lanier
• Best If Only We Could Have Figured Out How to Make Money From This Before Facebook Got Into the Game: Location Web Services
• Best Platform Provocateur: Tie- John Gruber and Paul Thurrott
• Best Geek I Wish I'd See More Of His Work Lately: Kevin Tofel
• Best Read on the Web: Jeff Jarvis
• Craziest Read on the Web: Mike Cane
• Best Podcast Sidekick: Tie-Andy Ihnatko and Gina Trapani
• Best New Podcast: Tech News Today
• Best Meme That Will Never Go Away: Privacy
• Best Game Ever Played on Mankind in the Modern Age: You Have a Right to Privacy

Tablets, Gadgets, Software and Mobile Computing

• Most Disruptive Force in Tech: Apple
• Best We Waited, We Saw, We Retreated, We Retrenched, and We Hope 2011 Is Better For Us: All other Tablet/Slate Manufacturers in the Wake of the iPad
• Best Year of the Tablet That Wasn't: 2010
• Best We Fell for the Year of the Tablet Hype at CES in 2010 and We'll Probably Fall For It Again: Most Tech Bloggers and Tech Media
• Best Gadget Release of the Year: iPad
• Best Gadget Release of the Year that Might Make People Think Twice About the iPad: MacBook Air
• Best Please Quit Trying Until You Start From Scratch Award: Windows 7 Tablets
• Most Innovative Tablet PC of 2010: No Award Given
• Best Tablet PC Software of 2010: No Award Given
• Best Ok, We Fired The Guy Behind Our Cloud Strategy But We Still Have One, Really We Promise: Microsoft
• Best Definition Bender of the Year: 4G
• Best Remind Me Why We Have MVPs: Microsoft
• Best Software Launch That Washed Away with the Tide: Google Wave
• Best Hey, We Actually Released a Competitor to the iPad and We Sold Some Too Even Though the Ones We Have Coming Next Year Will Be Better: Samsung
• Best Major Company Bitch Fight: Apple and Adobe
• Best Our Past Sins Are Catching Up To Us Thanks To That Damn Steve Jobs: Adobe
• Best Bitch Fight That Is Getting Old: Google and Apple
• Best We Wish We Could Be in a Bitch Fight Again: Microsoft
• Best Attempt at Reinventing Oneself: Microsoft for Windows Phone 7
• Best If All Else Fails We Can Still Play Games: Microsoft for Kinect
• Best Scariest Ad That Shows How Much We Want To Own the World: Verizon
• Best We've Got You By the Balls and We're Gonna Make You Pay While We Watch You Scream: AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint
• Best I Think They Almost Believe Their Own Lies: AT&T
• Best Snort Liquid Through Your Nose Laughing Line of the Year: "Don't Hold it That Way"-Apple
• Best We Sure Hope People Might Go Crazy Over This: Google Chrome OS
• Best Platform Agnostic Software: Tie-Evernote and Dropbox
• Best App I Use Everyday: Instapaper
• Best You Don't Need a Keyboard if All You Type Is "Yep" and "Nope": Steve Jobs
• Best Feed Reader: Reeder
• Best We Can't Figure Out the Sex Thing: Apple App Store
• Best Yes We License Android for Tablets But It Ain't Made for Tablets Yet, Suckers: Google
• Best New Tech Impression of Microsoft: Android Fragmentation
• Best Tech Phenomenon That Involves Pigs: Angry Birds
• Best Amoeba Like Takeover of Mobile Tech: Android
• Best Oh, Shit, We Better Get On The Stick, Fire Somebody and Finally Do Something Different: Nokia
• Best Sorriest Attempt at Playing Me Too: Steve Ballmer Holding Up an HP Slate at CES 2010
• Best Yeah, You Think You're Gonna Reinvent The Entertainment Industry So We'll Hold Back Our Content From Your New Internet TV Devices: Big Media
• Best Yeah, You Think You're Gonna Reinvent The Publishing Industry So We'll...well...We'll Do Something As Soon As We Can Figure Out What It Is: Big Publishing
• Best If We Can Survive AntennaGate We Can Survive Anything: Apple
• Best Tech Scandal That Wasn't: GlassGate
• Best JooJoo We Hardly New You: FusionGarage
• Best Bonehead Improvement of the Year: Apple Removing the Screen Rotation Lock from the case on the iPad

Cultural, Political and Everything Else

• Best Worst Political Collapse Since Zachary Taylor Died: The Obama Administration
• Best Proof That Humans Will Screw Up Anything If Given Half a Chance and a Majority: The Democratic Party
• Best Proof That Even the Democrats Will Have A Chance: The Republican Party
• Best Proof That Not Everyone Gets Better With Experience: David Gregory
• Best Blogger With a Sense of Justice, a Sense of Fairness, and Common Sense: Karoli
• Best New Local Twitter Bud: Rob DeHaven
• Best Twitter Bud: Big_In_Va
• Best We Will Rewrite History As We Want It To Be: Texas
• Best Read of the Year: Chris Jones on Roger Ebert
• Best Proof That Politics Has Finally Reached Its Nadir: Dancing with the Stars
• Best Film of the Year: Restrepo
• Best Proof That Our Culture of Lying Isn't a Culture After All It's Just Rotting Bacteria: Glenn Beck
• Best Proof That Even a Retreaded New Trend Can Be Destroyed by Greed: 3D
• Best Disaster of the Year That Tarred Everyone Who Came Close To It: BP Oil Spill
• Best Arrogance When Trying to Take Down The Arrogant: Julian Assange
• Best Mom: Mine

Ink Blots Retired in 2007

• Best Tablet PC Software Site: Tablet PC Post
• Most Consistent and Most Creative Ink Blogger: Mark Sumocat Sumimoto
• Best All Father of Tablet PCs:James Kendrick (What's an All Father anyway?)
• Best Annual Wish List For Santa That Makes All Geeks Think About Committing Crimes To Purchase All The Cool Gadgets: Linda Epstein of TabletPC2.com

Ink Blots Retired in 2006

• Most Obnoxious Tableteer Laugh : Tie-Robert Scoble and myself. (The only reason it is a tie is Scoble's laugh is heard more than mine.)
• Best and Most Frequent Use Of The Word "Cool" in a Tablet PC Blog Post or Podcast: James Kendrick
• Best First Family Of Tablet PCs: The Heiny's
• Best Tablet PC Batman Fan: Marc Orchant

No Awards were Retired in 2008, 2009, or 2010

Previous Ink Blot Awards

• 2009
• 2008
• 2007
• 2006
• 2005

Five Years of Life on the Wicked Stage

Well, I thought last year was challenging when I wrote up this post celebrating the four year blogoversary of life here on Life on the Wicked Stage. This year provided a new definition of challenging. Through some personal health issues, family health issues, and almost losing the theatre I work for twice (due to economic concerns) it was a year that seemed like it wouldn’t end, and one that was moving far too fast at the same time.

Throughout it all I still kept coming back here, most assuredly as a refuge, and often as a shield against some of the more bristling challenges. What amazes me is that others kept coming here as well, even though the blog often suffered from things going on in the real world. That is evident in that this year’s observance post barely made it to the web on the day of the anniversary. But something else special happened this year. As I blogged about the challenges I faced here, many of those who stop by to read a bit, stepped up and helped out. For those of you who did, I am more grateful than you know and I thank you for your friendship and your care. For those who just stopped by to take a glance or a read, I’m also grateful for the time you spent here and hope you find your way to spend more in the future.

The Fifth Annual Life on the Wicked Stage Ink Blot Awards

Here we go again with another edition of the Life on the Wicked Stage Ink Blot Awards, this time for year number 5. As I’ve said each year since year 2 of these awards there is no better description as to why they exist, or why I created them, than what I said the first year. So, here are those remarks, which I’ll revise and extend.

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.

This will probably be the last year that I can repeat those words as that community and its passion that helped provide the inspiration is spinning off into all sorts of new directions. Even more so than last year. That’s not a bad thing, it’s just a thing. Tablet PCs as we’ve known them from the past are very much a niche product, except when they are a rumor that occupies the world’s attention. Once again, anyone looking for anything new on the Tablet front has to pretend to be a Cubs fan and “wait until next year.” Last year this award appeared: The We’d Love to See It, Love to Buy It, But Don’t Think You’re Ever Going to Produce It Award: TechCrunch Tablet. A day or so before these awards appeared, Michael Arrington, the Father of the Crunchpad, declared it dead. Such are the times, such are the trials, and such are the tales of those who love Tablets.

2009 was the year that social media turned from the topic to the only topic. Twitter exploded. Facebook bought Friendfeed. And you can now use location services to locate, well just about anything or anybody. Except of course for those folks who don’t like to be social or locatable, but that’s another story. Mobile devices finally saw some real entries in various categories including MIDs, UMPCs, and of course Netbooks and Smartphones. The biggest difficulty is that the majority of entries in most categories look more like odd independent films trying to find distribution. Netbooks are still a dominate story, as is the iPhone. It was a year of comebacks (or at least attempts at a comeback)  for some, (Microsoft, UMPCs, Motorola, and Palm), and failure for others. The last quarter of the year also saw open warfare breakout among some of the big guns (Google, Apple, Microsoft, AT&T, Verizon). Amazon’s Kindle saw competitors start to spring up all around, although most won’t really hit the market until 2010 (Sony must hate the fact that they keep getting looked over). Touch became the big thing. So big that now everyone is wondering what to do with it. The usage case beyond the small screen just hasn’t been made.

AT&T Gets Crapped On. Again.

MG Seigler of TechCrunch says he’s surprised by the number of responses and the depth of those responses to his post, AT&T Is A Big, Steaming Heap of Fail. I’m not sure why he’s surprised at all. Too, too many have trod this path before pointing out that AT&T wins the prize for one of the biggest bald face corporate liars out there. Heck, they won an Ink Blot award for just that last December, and no one seems to be trying to pass them by so far this year.

Dreaming here, but maybe MG’s post, given TechCrunch’s rank in the world, will have some success in moving the needle, but I doub it. AT&T is far too busy counting money and figuring out ways to keep the status quo alive to try and rectify any of the blatant insufficiencies that they saddle their customers with. While they laugh all the way to the bank, I’m sure they figure they can even fend off the federal government. I mean after all, we keep filling their coffers faster than we complain. Intriguingly, AT&T is alone as a target of scorn as evidenced by some of the comments on Sigler’s post, which is another reason AT&T can keep on shucking and jiving. They are a part of an industry that thrives on the fact that they don’t need good consumer rankings to make the cash register ring.

Puppets in the GapingVoid: Hugh and Loren Team Up

Watch out. Two recent Ink Blot Award winners and acquired tastes, Hugh MacLeod and Loren Feldman,  are teaming up to help out companies with advice on getting their message across, over, and through. Puppets and cartoons. Who could ask for more.

I predict dangerous fun ahead.

Four Years of Life on the Wicked Stage

It has been and will continue to be a long Act 2 here on Life on The Wicked Stage, although there have been times when I’ve wished for a longer intermission this year. I still find it hard to believe that I’ve been doing this for four years, and yes, it is even harder still to envision not doing it. More to the point, I sit every day in wonder that people actually come here, or read what is written on RSS feeds after all this time. The thoughts, links, and musings here are things that I find of interest and chose to comment upon one way or the other. The fact that anyone else deems that of value is a bit scary and still inspires a bit of awe in my pea brain.

This has been a challenging year for me personally on a number of fronts, and consequently things fell off here in spurts. Even so, I still counted it as a blessing that I could return to share things that I found silly, fun, ridiculous, outrageous, sublime, beautiful, ugly, and above all worth sharing. Yes, it is still a refuge, and yes, it is still a place that I like very much.

The Fourth Annual Life on the Wicked Stage Ink Blot Awards

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!