It was a familiar scenario; I was in a bar in Portugal drinking cheap beer I'd regret in the morning jumping about badly, pulling muscles in my back, again which I'd regret in the morning. Then the DJ played a stormer of a Baile Funk tune.
I hobbled over to ask what it was and he signaled for me to wait while he got paper and pen. Amazing right? No cupping my hand to my ear, struggling with language or accent. Easy. Except he passed this back to me. (pictured above).
He didn't give me the title or artist of the track, merely what he had typed into Limewire to get it! Frustratingly, it's not 2001 and I don't use Limewire anymore. I gave him a blank look and he smiled, shrugged his shoulders, and went back to the mix.
But what intrigued me was the idea of a potential paradigm shift in naming. What if there were so many things with names, so many artists, so many musicians, so many books, so many years of people not researching their names properly that everyone started doubling up.
Your name actually becomes your search term.
It's happening now but picture this is 30 years time. It could messy trying to find things right? So maybe finding things through their search terms instead of their given name would become practical. It's a slightly subversive idea, but I quite like it.
There might be more than one Charlie Gower living in Stoke Newington. But I doubt there are many country music listening, folk art collecting over-weight wannabe surfers who like sign painting living in N16. I'm betting there's only one.
This is a bit like finding someone on Skype, half a Billion users means lots of Andy Smiths but only one PIMallardtheduck.
Of course to fight back against this trend parents will start naming their children after mid 2000s WIFI passwords.
Stupid but amusing.
Signing off aA!&D0gi3pzY56£
Donuts or deep fried chicken?
Posted by: Kirsty | 18 May 2010 at 12:07
Interesting thought CG and totally on-point when it comes to Skype. So does this mean we have to grab/do dibs on our alternative handles? I (obviously) choose boom. We're finally in the era of the crazy middle name. "Boom is my middle name".
The End.
Posted by: Account Deleted | 18 May 2010 at 12:19
Kirsty, I guess I'm going with Chicken... was that the question?
Sam, yes you can have boom
Posted by: charlie gower | 18 May 2010 at 12:31
Just wondering what's given the scales a nudge. You weren't over-weight when I last saw you.
Posted by: Kirsty | 18 May 2010 at 12:58
ah I see, a month in the states drinking beer and eating ribs I suspect. Swimming begins in June.
Posted by: charlie gower | 18 May 2010 at 13:18
There's only one Charlie Gower.
Posted by: John | 21 May 2010 at 22:51
nice of you john, but sadly it's not true...
Posted by: charlie gower | 22 May 2010 at 07:16
How valuable for me, believe that it will attract lot of people's love.
Posted by: Air force one | 25 June 2010 at 02:27