roomthily

outbreaks of futurosity

one of “three things recently that seem to have ‘future of media’ written all over them”:

1. The Dongle of Donald Trefusis

This is Stephen Fry’s (whom God preserve) new venture, The Dongle of Donald Trefusis, described on wikipedia as a “podcast, audio book and radio monologue” though I think that rather undersells them. Because it also seems to be turning into a sort of anti-ARG ARG, with possible online picture clues you’re pointed at via the audio (with a stern admonition not to think of them as clues) and a character Twittering from beyond the grave.

Some of the futureness of this is obvious in it’s transmedia metaness, sprawling across all sorts of channels. But it’s also all futurey because of the creator-centricity of it. It’s been put together by someone who understands both the technical and artistic aspects of the thing, and understands natively the particular characteristics of each channel. It’s not integrated via status meeting but by a single artistic vision and enthusiasm. And it’s not being delivered via a relationship with any traditional media partner, not yet anyway, it’s getting out there through pipes like twitter and the iTunes store and on the back of Mr Fry’s expertly maintained online clout. He’s built himself a channel and now he’s distributing through it. V. good.

via russell davies