Author Archives: Ian Bogost

A Lesson in Offloading

The logic of California higher education funding

Today California announced the introduction of legislation to require schools to accept credit for certain online courses, including those offered by MOOC providers like Udacity and Coursera. Let’s review the logic of this process. Massively cut funding to California public education. Simultaneously, reduce public receipts, in part by offering massive tax forgiveness to the most profitable California industrial sector, technology.… read more

A dumb question about Mail.app in Mountain Lion

I finally upgraded to OS X Mountain Lion. There are a few new things to get used to, not the least of which is the horror of having desktop notifications (even if they can be turned off). But I’m more confused by a very specific behavior in Mail.app surrounding message deletion. I noticed that sometimes when I delete a message,… read more

Bigos is no Ordinary Dish

A poem about the Polish hunter's stew

I haven’t “blogged” for some time, mostly because I’m not sure how to blog anymore. I think you just post stuff, but it’s longer than a tweet? I’m going to take a swing at it by posting this nearly two-century old poem about the Eastern European hunter’s stew Bigos: Bigos is no ordinary dish, For it is aptly framed to… read more

PlayStation 4: A Videogame Console

Today, the most novel feature of new technology is ordinariness.

The logo for the Dutch videogame studio Guerrilla Games is an object lesson in mixed metaphor: an orange “G” contorted into the chevron shape of a military rank insignia. Guerrilla insurgencies are often organized and sometimes even state-based, but they are hardly represented by the formal emblem of command and control military structure. Guerrilla warfare is irregular, asymmetrical, and lithe.… read more

Proteus: A Trio of Artisanal Game Reviews

Three reviews as three lenses through which to approach and appreciate an unusual videogame.

Originally published at Gamasutra One: Nil Person Videogames are narcissistic. They are about you, even when they put you in someone else’s shoes. You are a space marine among hell spawn. You are a mafioso just released from prison. You are a bear with a bird in your backpack. You are a Tebowing Tim Tebow. We may think we play… read more

“Hundreds” Is the Haute Couture of Video Games

A new multi-touch puzzle game for the iPad and iPhone is about form, not function—and it's about to become a status symbol.

Some media exists for you to “consume”: to read, to watch, to play. Even though a book, television show, or video game isn’t destroyed by this encounter like a cheesesteak or a firework might be, the creative work is meant to be made a part of ourselves. To transform us in some way. But other forms of media don’t aspire… read more

The Potty

A Toilet Training Koan

Some time ago I lent my voice to the audio guide for a Koine Greek curriculum for kids. Around the time it was released, we found out a family friend’s then-three year old had taken to listening to the CD at bedtime, not for the Greek but just because he liked the sound of my voice. At the same time,… read more

Two Billionaires on the University

Two conveniently juxtaposable views on universities today, from two billionaires. First, Michael Bloomberg made a $350 million commitment to his alma mater Johns Hopkins, which he credits with establishing his future as a leader. The contribution brings his total philanthropy to Johns Hopkins to $1.1 billion. In addition to funding need-based financial aid, Bloomberg’s donations have made possible a physics… read more

The Cost of Fees

Would I be doing what I do now had I been subject to today's University of California graduate tuition and fees? Probably not.

My graduate school experience was unusual, at least for someone pursuing a humanities PhD. While I did teach some, for much of the time I was in grad school I was also working in the technology and entertainment industries. In part this is because I was an immovable ass who wasn’t willing to give up my interests in computing in… read more

Open, New, Experimental, Aspirational

The rhetoric of "The Bill of Rights and Principles for Learning in the Digital Age"

The Bill of Rights and Principles for Learning in the Digital Age is a new document authored and signed by twelve scholars, technologists, and entrepreneurs including Duke professor and author Cathy Davidson, organizational technologist John Seely Brown, and Udacity CEO Sebastian Thrun. It’s been making the rounds among those of us interested in such topics, also receiving coverage at The… read more