Max has sent me this post on the participation and authorship panel from the touchpress website: http://www.touchpress.com. As a pioneer of content-led approaches to videodisc and CD-ROM, he really does know about the deep bedrock that lies beneath our feet.
Over to Max:
Just back from the most excellent i-docs conference in Bristol. I spoke at one of the early sessions. The most interesting presentation that day was from fellow interactive media dinosaur Prof. Brian Winston. Brian showed some excerpts from early (1974) interactive/participatory agitational video about a bitter strike in the Kentucky coal-fields shot in black and white on Sony Portapak by political scientist John Gaventa. Brian also showed a contemporary interview with John Gaventa conducted via Skype. Curious how similarly 1974 Sony Portapak and 2012 Skype video resemble one another. It was refreshing to be reminded of the deep bedrock that lies beneath our feet. The young mammals stealing our eggs need to remember that we have been making mistakes for much longer than them.