Changing Way

Today’s Boston Globe includes its critic’s picks of 2007. I went straight to the albums of the year lists. There’s a list by each critic. Unfortunately, one the web each list is presented as a slideshow, rather than as a page I can just cast an eye down.

This is silly, in exactly the same way that the Business Week Online books of the year list is silly. When old media uses the web like this, it reminds me of how my students sometimes want to use PowerPoint: it’s more about “cool” features than it is about clear communication.

This isn’t just me being grumpy. If it was, I’d criticize the Globe for using CD rather than, say, album: one of the best albums of 2007 won’t be out on CD until 2008. And I’d be inclined to complain about the omission of my album of the year: but since the format of the Globe’s lists doesn’t allow me a quick scan, that inclination is rather slight.