You ever think about your personal “technology horizon?”

Everybody has a different technology horizon — the point where they stop learning new technologies, interfaces, concepts, and decide they are fine where they are and “don’t get why we need all of this newfangled stuff anyway.”

I got a glimpse of mine in one area a few years back: I used to be an avid PC gamer. A complete mouse and keyboard guy. The new ninetendo-style handheld controls simply threw (ok throw) me for a loop. Don’t like ‘em; not particularly interested in getting to grips with them. So that’s an example where I got off that particular technology bus then and there.

In a similar way, the technology we use for making music completely flummoxes the teachers at my music school. They are all older, traditionally trained, and on “traditional” instruments. So I wonder what will come down the music making pike in the future that will seem so different, so unlike what I’m doing now, that I will have a hard time making the leap (but to my 1 year old son will be commonplace and “no big deal” years from now).

Well, an example may be below. This is an audio-visual touchscreen synthesizer. It’s a different way of interfacing with an instrument and it opens up new ways of thinking about sound creation.



CASTALIAN / New concept Audio Visual Touch Sequencer from nucode on Vimeo.

BTW, I know I am not at my horizon just yet because the above excites me. I want one damnit!