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Esquire Discovers Cro-Magnon Internet
Esquire magazine seems to have discovered the Internet, and the wonders of interactivity.
What they haven't discovered, apparently, is what constitutes barriers to clickability.
So here's their exciting new interactive adventure for the movie, "Sherlock Holmes," starring Robert Downey Jr. who apparently "pops to life," in ways that will astound you! It's a new Esquire! An augmented Robert Downey! Click here -- well, no wait a minute.
First you have to do a couple of things.
Number one: you need a webcam. Then you need to download software -- (are you kidding me?). Don't miss the highlighted "end-user agreement" and "legal disclaimer for Lexus Ar Experience ad" (wha'?), which definitely makes you feel like spending your time to download software, sign disclaimers and then get to watch Robert Downey Jr. -- whose antics here are so exciting, that they are worth all this foreplay.
Note to Esquire: any special feature you offer readers that comes with instructions like 'How to Get Started' is a bad idea.
And just to make it super-fun, the entire shindig comes with trouble-shooting instructions, and a look behind the scenes at their living, breathing, moving, talking magazine.
I'm sure it's really great. Would someone who bothered to download the software let me know?
Comments
Heather Bungard-Janney Says
I dunno, I think she has a point. My computer won't even let me download the software because my graphics card isn't spiffy enough. If the magazine wants to do new and nifty things with interactivity - and I'm all for that - AND sell lots and lots of magazine, then the package needs to be accessible to as many people as possible. That's simple logic, no?
Don't get me wrong - I don't see anything wrong with providing a new service and explaining how it's supposed to work. It'd be a lot more annoying if you were just expected to "get it" or be considered unworthy to count yourself among the magazine's readers. But after all the hype of this nifty-whole-new-level-to-print-media, it's a bit of a letdown to find out that what we're getting is actually a nifty-whole-new-level-once-you-download-software-agree-to-suck-up-some-advertising-from-a-car-company-and-hopefully-get-the-damn-thing-to-work.
I'd be grateful if anyone whose computer is able to handle the tech could let the rest of us know about the content, especially regarding the coolness that is Robert Downey Jr.
Matt Says
Certainly Schiele. I read it and thought it was a fair comment. Are you aware of what columnists do? Or usability?
schiele Says
Boy, Sharon Waxman, as opposed to the new and really pretty interesting application of a new technology by Esquire, your bitchy column had zero value and was not in the slightest bit interesting! Congratulations! I don't get it. What's the point? Is writing something full of attitude and without distinction somehow fulfilling to you? Or what? Yes, when something is new, one probably has to walk people through it in a couple of (actually easily understood) steps. I can't tell you that it would have interested you if you had actually bothered to look at it before issuing a worthless review, because such reviews might well be your stock in trade. Would someone who has actually bothered to read Sharon Waxman's column let me know?
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