So I receive my daily email from the History News Network which includes a report about a panel at the Organization of American Historians annual meeting on the state of the history of American conservatism. Research and personal interests, not to mention the entertainment supplied by liberal academics having to talk about conservatives, prompt me to click on the link. And what do I find? More links, but not to papers or synopses of papers, but to videos of the panelists.Â
Now, I know ingratitude is unbecoming in Christians and annoying in others, but I have to admit that I was not in the best of humor having to watch three roughly 10-minute videos of the presentations.  (The fourth was deleted from Youtube before I could get to it, suggesting authors were not consulted before the videos went on line.) Sure, it was better than not being there, or having to wait for the papers to show up in print.Â
But I’d much rather have had the papers. I could have skimmed them in about as much time as it took to watch one of the videos, and then filed them away with their footnotes for help at another point.  This offers further evidence that for learning, old technologies are superior to new ones.  I mean, would you rather watch an author read a book or simply read (or skim) it for yourself?
9 Comments
It depends on the circumstances, doesn’t it? Audiobooks are nice when you’re driving. Referencing commentaries is much faster via Bibleworks or even ccel.org. Cross-referencing is a delight with Google Books. Both iTunes and Youtube offer college lectures for free. And you can’t beat the internet for distribution.
Khan Academy’s Youtube page (http://www.youtube.com/user/khanacademy?ob4) has saved many math students from mediocre teachers and texts. Even the NTJ isn’t immune- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cClZ2Ul5xt8 is a wonderful argument for psalmody.
I agree wholeheartedly. Nothing annoys me more than clicking a link only to find a video downloading. When that happens, I usually try to find a transcript or just move on.
What, no Maundy Thursday meditations from you today?
Which is it? Monday or Thursday? Why is the liturgical calendar so complicated?
Darryl, what do you mean? The paleo-old anti-technology is hearing the epic told by fire light.. to which youtube is certainly a closer approximation than markings on paper. Writing systems! and Paper! –How abstracted from traditional humanity can you get?
Or, wait… was your point that convenience is the mark of superiority?
Mike, I’m worried about your use of Youtube.
Baus, I’ll stand by the Word.
I guess I just enjoyed your Ash Wednesday “meditation” so much that I was hoping for more irreverent jabs at the church calendar.
But, Darryl, faith comes by hearing.
Your blog is very interresting for me, i will come back here..