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Hi from a digital addict
September 4, 2007
Hi, my name is Howie Fenton and I am a digital addict. Wow, that sounds kinda like an old Frank Romano joke that goes: “Hi my name is Frank and I am a recovering typographer.”
In all honestly however it may be optimistic to say that I am in recovery. More likely I am still addicted to all things digital, especially my Blackberry, IPOD, GPS, and Macintosh computers.
Its not easy being a digital junky. There are many people who make fun of someone’s digital addictions. My 15 year old son loves to tell me what a nerd I am. I try to tell him that the geeks will inherit the earth. But after 2 years of study I think he knows it was the meek not the geeks.
But like so many others, he will only make fun of me until he needs me. It was amazing how he stopped making fun of me last year when he had to make a PowerPoint presentation for school and I helped him embed a QuickTime movie in his presentation.
Like other digital tool addicts if you took away my digital toys I would likely experience serious digital withdrawal. I would wander the streets looking for a Starbucks hot spot to either log on or try the only alternative remedy which is getting a Venti Americano. This small, garbage can sized coffee cup, has 4 shots of espresso in it. It may not be recognized as an official antidepressant – but it is like drinking rocket fuel.
All things considered, however, I don’t think being a digital junky is all that bad. My “fix” does not hurt others and often helps them. All I need is to answer 20-30 emails a day on my “Crack-Berry”, have a conversation about the value added opportunities for digital technologies, draw a flowchart or new floor plan that streamlines bottlenecks in digital workflows and work in one of the more programs in the Adobe or Microsoft suites and I am good to go.
But on a more serious note, I should probably introduce myself. I have worked in this industry for 2 decades. As you may have guessed I am a consultant who focus on operational issues such as workflow management, digital production, and digital printing.
I work for NAPL which is a association in our industry whose mission is to enable the graphic arts companies to profit from change, which keeps me pretty busy because nothing is changing more then the impact of digital technologies. Prior to working for NAPL I worked for the PIA/GATF. Prior to that I was the editor of a prepress magazine called “Pre”. And prior to that I worked in service bureaus.
I look forward to sharing my thoughts with you and I hope I don’t let down Bill Esler. When Bill Esler asked me to try my hand at blogging he said, “I think you would be good at it. Your very opinionated”. Well thanks Bill, I hope I don’t let you down by being too politically correct!
Posted by Howie Fenton on September 4, 2007 | Comments (3)
