The Incomplete, made by Andy Campbell is under the tab Dreaming Methods. You are presented with a closed laptop and can open it if you simply click it. The interface is that of a Windows laptop. When exploring it, I tried going through the start menu and clicked on every option but the same window popped up saying “The volume is corrupt or unreadable.” The only thing that would work was the Internet Explorer symbol on the dashboard. You are yet presented with another laptop and can do the same actions and yet another laptop will appear. It’s basically like laptop inception.
While exploring this interactive piece, very quite and soothing music is playing and your screen are the classic clouds but the only difference is that they are in movement. The quietness of the music represents the simplicity of the interactive fiction. The movements of the clouds signify the possibility of something new occurring.
The amount of windows you can have on your main screen is endless, which goes against the title of this interactive fiction, The Incomplete. This could represent the idea of how most technology seems as if they have so much to offer and yet companies are constantly developing the latest phones, laptops, tablets, cameras, etc.
People are always under the impression that they have the latest piece of technology, but in reality, the people who create these digital works of art, are continuously in the lab seeing how they can improve and make the “next big thing” even better!
What if Andy Campbell is trying to tell people that it isn’t important to have the newest phone because ultimately all phones serve the same purpose, to call someone. And yet, with the smartphones we have today, they act like laptops in the senses that you can almost do everything on a laptop, on a smartphone. And yet Andy Campbell believes that the possibilities to develop new technologies are infinite.
What do you guys think? Is it so important for us to have the latest everything? Or should we stick with the technologies that we love and trust?
Computer technology evolves a lot more rapidly than other stuff we use, so it seems appropriate that we’re making newer phones and computers all the time. I don’t know if I agree with that particular reading of this work, however, especially because it’s not like every window is showing us a progression of old to new or new to old but the same frame every time. I see this more as a “wouldn’t it be crazy if…” kind of exercise. In that respect, it’s pretty cool, but I can’t find much to read into beyond that.
I believe Andy isn’t trying to tell us that technology isn’t important but that technology is infinite or constantly multiplying. Like scolliga stated, technology evolves rapidly and since it evolves rapidly the more cool gadgets, computers, and etc. are created and are bought by people so it is endless. For example, when you open IE in this work you create another laptop and you open that one and open IE on it and create another computer and it keeps looping. I’m not sure if I can get anything else out of this work besides that. Maybe there is something hidden in this work that we aren’t seeing.
The possibility of creating new technology is infinite. I don’t know if this is relevant but my first thought when I used Incomplete was – the technology is getting smaller and smaller! Like in the real world, companies are trying to put so much tech into the smallest and most convenient form. Like the internet, withing a blue-ray player, within a PS3! And on that note, the PlayStation Portable, which is a pocket sized game system that has a mp3 player, movie player, internet/skype- the works really, and I think it shows that companies CAN’T get away with producing an item with one use anymore because of all the ismart-whatever competition.
The evolution of technology is endless, but I think it isn’t necessary to have everything up-to-date. Though I do not forbid the advances in technology, I only buy what I need, not what I want. For example, I would rather use my dad’s Corolla instead of buying a brand new one because it’s cheaper. It may not have all the high tech features that the newest model had, but it’s able to take me places. That’s basically the reason why I want a car, so I can travel. I think many of the latest technology are for luxury and not a necessity. This is basically how many of today’s inventions exist; people needed to use them. Overall, I think The Incomplete is Endless points out what is a necessity and what is luxury.
This is a pretty cool, broad question that’s always fun to talk about. The exponential nature of technology growth makes it seemingly impossible to have an up-to-date laptop or phone, but it also allows for the amazing sorts of things we see on TV and hear on the news. Mentally condensing and experiencing technology as it “is” then, is essentially impossible, because the newest technology isn’t culturally-permeated technology.The Incomplete is an odd and interesting commentary on these ideas.
Empty the recycle bin 🙂
* restoring the file in it, sorry. half asleep.
I like the comparison to Inception. I also think it’s interesting that along with the multiple laptops within laptops, we also have to remember that, at least for me, I’m looking at this through my own laptop. I also think there’s something about the idea of newer technology getting physically smaller and smaller. Despite the newness, however, The Incomplete doesn’t actually allow us to do anything new whenever a new laptop pops up on the screen. Perhaps this hints at a redundancy in technological evolution. You pointed out that the evolution of the cell phone has led to the smartphone. However, you also point out that a smartphone basically just does what a laptop can do (and laptops can of course do what desktops can do), which I think supports the idea of redundancy. Ultimately, this piece, for me, brings to my attention the different mediums of technology we have to accomplish the same things.