Addiction

Fac 1, Factory Communications 1979-1992

Factory Records was a Manchester-based British independent record label founded in 1978 by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus.

The label featured several important acts on its roster, including Joy DivisionNew OrderA Certain Ratiothe Durutti ColumnHappy MondaysNorthside, and (briefly) Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and James. Factory also ran The Haçienda nightclub, in partnership with New Order.

Factory Records used a creative team (most notably record producer Martin Hannett and graphic designer Peter Saville) which gave the label and the artists recording for it a particular sound and image. The label employed a unique cataloguing system that gave a number not just to its musical releases, but also to various other related miscellany, including artwork, films, living beings, and even Wilson’s own casket and tombstone.

Two short clips about Factory artefacts

“I am not a piece of hash. I’m in charge of Factory Records. I think.”

Tony Wilson


Fac 51, The Hacienda or How Not To Run A Club by Peter Hook - #update

The Hacienda: How Not to Run a Club by Peter Hook 

The Haçienda was, as Hook says, in many ways the perfect example of how not to run a club – if you view a nightclub as a money-making business. But if, like the baggy trousered philanthropists Factory, you see it as an altruistic gift to your hometown and a breeding ground for the next generation of youth culture, it was, accidentally, purposefully, shambolically, anarchically, thrillingly, scarily, inspirationally, perfect.

All at The Guardian

See him talk about it.

See this short documentary about The Hacienda.


Hans Schnitzler - We Nihilists

Wij Nihilisten

An elite of tech entrepreneurs has succeeded in dominating people and society in a very short time. Since the introduction of the iPhone in 2007, services such as WhatsApp, Instagram, Snapchat or the cloud have become indispensable. In fifteen years, a collective digital conversion has taken place that has radically changed our lives.
In Wij nihilisten, Hans Schnitzler poses a question that is hardly ever asked: how did this virtual class manage to do this? Inspired by, among other things, Friedrich Nietzsche’s writings on nihilism, he goes in search of the cultural roots of this success. His quest immerses the reader in the wonderful world of the archetype of the internet age: the nerd. At the same time, he presents a mirror to us: in fact we are all nerds.
The data revolution threatens to eat its own children. With this book, Schnitzler urges us to face our own part in this. Because only when we are aware of this change is possible.

You can buy the book here (Dutch only):

https://www.debezigebij.nl/boek/wij-nihilisten/

 

'The one who sees it all, sees nothing'

C.S. Lewis

Videos about the book and discussions about the presented issues:

All rights belong to the owners of the works presented.


Hooked - Why we can't stop using some apps

Nir Eyal makes it clear why we are hooked to some apps.

Behavior Can Be Designed

Nir Eyal: ‘Whether you are designing the behavior change of your consumers or your own habits, you’ll benefit from understanding research I share from behavioral economics, neuroscience, and consumer psychology.’

Addictive Behaviors – Nir Eyal | Inside Quest #28

What makes some technology so habit-forming? | Nir Eyal | TED Institute

How to Build Habit-Forming Products | Nir Eyal @ Startup Grind Global 2017


Adam Alter - Irresistible

People have been addicted to substances for thousands of years, but for the past two decades, we’ve also been hooked on technologies, like Instagram, Netflix, Facebook, Fitbit, Twitter, and email—platforms we’ve adopted because we assume they’ll make our lives better. These inventions have profound upsides, but their appeal isn’t an accident. Technology companies and marketers have teams of engineers and researchers devoted to keeping us engaged. They know how to push our buttons, and how to coax us into using their products for hours, days, and weeks on end.

Tracing addiction through history, Alter shows that we’re only just beginning to understand the epidemic of behavioral addiction gripping society. He takes us inside the human brain at the very moment we score points on a smartphone game, or see that someone has liked a photo we’ve posted on Instagram. But more than that, Alter heads the problem off at the pass, letting us know what we can do to step away from the screen. He lays out the options we have to address this problem before it truly consumes us. After all, who among us hasn’t struggled to ignore the ding of a new email, the next episode in a TV series, or the desire to play a game just one more time?

“We live in an age of addiction — seemingly benign and otherwise — and Adam Alter, mixing the latest in behavioral science with briskly engaging storytelling, wakes us to an age-old problem that has found troubling new expression in the era of ubiquitous technology.  You may never look at your smartphone in the same way again.”
Tom Vanderbilt, author of Traffic and You May Also Like

Check out this video to see him talking about the book