03.03.2010
Pluperfect PDA (3)
Reporter Robert Williams (Stew Smith) fiddles with his PDA while pitching woo at Gallagher (Loretta Young) in a secluded corner of the newsroom. From Frank Capra’s Platinum Blonde (1931).
Called on the carpet by his editor, Conroy (Edmund Breese), Stew complains that he was playing with an app: “It took me three hours to get those little gadgets in the holes, and you screw it up in a minute.” So which app was it? See for yourself:
Ringtone: “Minnie the Moocher”
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Third in an irregular series of posts tracking down iPhones, Palm Pilots, and other personal digital assistants transported into the pre-PDA past.
SIMILAR HILOBROW SERIES: DOUBLE EXPOSURE — the stratagems of Middlebrow | EGGHEAD — a gallery | FITTING SHOES — famous literary footwear | LATF HIPSTER | PANTENE MEME — a found gallery | SHOCKING BLOCKING — cinematic blocking
Joshua Glenn is a Boston-based writer, publisher, and cultural semiologist-for-hire. He does business as KING MIXER, LLC.
He is coauthor and/or co-editor of TAKING THINGS SERIOUSLY, THE IDLER'S GLOSSARY, THE WAGE SLAVE'S GLOSSARY, the object-oriented story collection SIGNIFICANT OBJECTS, and the kids' field guide to life UNBORED. He is co-founder of the websites HILOBROW and SEMIONAUT; and co-founder of the science fiction imprint HILOBOOKS. He produced and co-designed the iPhone app KER-PUNCH. He manages a secretive online community known as THE HERMENAUTIC CIRCLE.
In the '00s, Glenn was an editor, columnist, blogger (BRAINIAC), and new media producer at the BOSTON GLOBE. In the '90s, among other things, he published the philosophy/pop culture zine HERMENAUT; co-produced the DIY website and early online social network TRIPOD; and was an editor at UTNE READER.
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