When Rich Gold died last year, the world lost a brilliant mind. I had the pleasure of meeting him in 2000; he possessed the remarkable ability to come up with ideas which were simultaneously meaningful and memorable. He gave great talks, often accompanied by hand-drawn presentations. Andrew Zolli at Z+Blog notes that Rich's wide-ranging set of talks, slideshows, and essays, which had dropped off the web shortly after his passing, is now back up at richgold.org.
I highly encourage you to spend an afternoon going through the site. Some of what Rich had to say was funny, much of it insightful, and all of it worth reading. I'd suggest, in particular, Rich's presentation "How Smart Does Your Bed Have To Be, Before You're Afraid To Go To Sleep At Night?". This talk is entirely composed of questions -- about design, about technology, and about how we interact with the world around us. It is required reading for anyone thinking about the relationship between technology and society.
Go read it.
Comments (2)
Not having heard of Rich Gold may become a benchmark in my life; pre-Gold and post-Gold; and you-all at WorldChanging are my introduction. Thanks for the pointer and keep it up!
(Another Gold to check out: Thomas Gold,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Gold
who recently wrote THE DEEP HOT BIOSPHERE, and who was interviewed by Oliver Morton in WIRED in July 2000
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/8.07/gold_pr.html
Posted by Carl Caputo | February 14, 2004 5:21 PM
Posted on February 14, 2004 17:21
Hi Alex, I have finally got around to linking to you. I apologise for the delay... There have been thesis corrections and job interviews to contend with this end, and until very recently I've struggled to find time to blog. Anyway, better late than never, eh! Keep up the good work. Regards, Matt
Posted by Matt Prescott | February 15, 2004 2:47 PM
Posted on February 15, 2004 14:47