Halcyon Styn
Halcyon likes to play with web toys.
His current passion is "digital intimacy" and his related projects,
such as HugNation.com, Globalgasm.com and TheRealHouse.com (the webcam house
he lives in.)
His personal sites styn.net, cockybastard.com and prehensile.com comprise
his independent media empire.
URLs:
The Future of the Independent Web -- Predictions by Halcyon
- In the future we will update our web pages from the dashboards of our rocket cars.
- The web will erode the traditional media channels of music and film. The
people deciding what music gets promoted and heard will not be record companies,
but a network of power-mad "bloggers."
- Blogging will save the world from being choked in Data Smog. Popular bloggers
will become celebrities, as the "information guides" of our culture. "The
Kottke Show" will become a smash hit in Japan (partially due to his donning
of a plush bear costume.)
- No publication will be released as static product. All movies, TV, and music
will be interactive. The old habit of screaming at the movie screen will be
replaced by stabbing madly at "feedback buttons" provided with all forms of
entertainment.
- A huge backlash against all interactivity will sweep the country. Dozens
of information kiosks will be burned and made into a visual symbol of the
"DO NOT SUBMIT" anti-feedback movement.
- We will have a PBS-type organization (called "The Zeldman Foundation") that
will provide bandwidth to independent content creators. In the future, instead
of worthless banner ads, we'll have to endure pledge drives.
- The fat pipe will arrive. A 14-year-old kid will discover a way to deliver
broadband content using discarded corn husks and electromagnetic fields.
- Jakob Nielson will be discovered to have "heavy.com" as his homepage. At
a press conference he will admit he finds his own webpage "unappealing."
- It will be revealed that Stile Project is run by Carl Steadman.
- We will have "smart suits" that will automatically update our blog with
our current body temperature and recent flatulence patterns.
- Joshua Davis will become a religious leader to thousands of school kids.
Creating living, organic online creations will become the "in thing." Davis'
tattooed minions will view math as "cool" and non-programmers will be the
new "geeks."
- Netscape 9 will include proprietary Smell-o-VisionTM
tags.
- As more and more web people cross over into "mainstream" entertainment popularity,
more money and industry respect will be turned toward the independent web.
- The independent web will continue to be a way for any person on the planet
to have his voice heard. Anyone with talent and something to say will be able
to say it just as loud as the Big Boys with Deep Pockets.
- Halcyon will be photographed wearing a shirt.
