Tummelvision 100: Paul Ford, Andy Baio on the Facebook acquisition of Instagram, buying ‘community” and the New Aesthetic.

Author: Heather Gold, Kevin Marks, & Deborah Schultz
Published: Fri 13 Apr 2012
Episode Link: http://tummelvision.tv/2012/04/12/paulfordandybaio/

“You can’t have art without resistance in the materials”

Quoting William Morris, Paul Ford explains that when he wants to learn something he goes out and finds the appropriate software. In the limits of the software you might find a community.

Twelve year olds are now saying Facebook is for old people and Heather makes a 12-year-old’s face at the thought of Facebook buying Instagram. The group discusses Instagram’s future within the walls of Facebook. Will it get dragged into the Menlo Park swamp or will it go the way of Youtube? An almost purely mobile photo app with few features, Instagram is applauded as a less judgmental environment for people who don’t know how to shoot real photographs.

Spontaneity ensues as Andy Baio stops by. He is the founder of Upcoming.org, a former CTO of Kickstarter.com, and author of the Waxy.org blog. Andy is a less hopeful and thinks Instagram could very well get sawed into pieces. The conversation turns to “The New Aesthetics” – a phenomenon that Andy says smells like machine vision. Paul Ford weighs in on the topic by way of Aaron Cope and Heather by way of Bruce Sterlings’ closing talk at SXSW.

Here is a link to the entire chat transcript and a highlight reel of the show via Storify!

Show links:

Facebook and Instagram: When Your Favorite App Sells Out | Paul Ford | New York Magazine

Adobe Photoshop File Formats Specification | Adobe

What The Tech Pundits Don’t Get About Facebook’s $1B Instagram Deal | Cliff Kuang | FastCoDesign

Heather’s Instagram reaction to Facebook’s acquisition

Grab Instagrams with GramGrab

Reaction Pictures & Emoticons | MyFaceWhen

Wikipedia list of Acquisitions by Facebook

Facebook is for Old People | Patrick Moorehead | Techpinions

Instagram’s Buyout: How Does It Measure Up? | Andy Baio | Waxy.org (Wired)

An Essay on the New Aesthetic | Bruce Sterling | Wired