More afterthoughts from Digital Storytelling ’10…
One of the breakout sessions at the event was presented by Marcus Gilroy-Ware, who is part of Not On The Wires (the people who organised the conference in the first place). He did a very interesting talk that pondered over the challenges creatives have to face in the way of pitfalls and obstacles. WordPress came in for particular criticism. He said that it was deeply flawed and thought that their policy over plug-ins, where you to have to host the WordPress site on your own server to even use them, was ‘copping out’ a bit. He then revealed a new CMS, Smartest, that he had developed that would get around the problems of WordPress and, most importantly to him, not get in the way of creativity.
This was certainly an interesting talk for me, since I’ve been using WordPress for the best part of two years. I understand his frustrations, since I can’t use plug-ins on this site so I have to find an alternative solution to whatever it is I want to do. Having pondered it further, I liken this issue to one that is common when you make music: analogue or digital?
I don’t think I’m going mad but please feel free to tell me if I am.
There are two ways for artists to record music. One is the analogue/DIY method where you may not have the most up-to-date equipment – instruments and recording – around and you find yourself having to overcome obstacles to get what you want. The most creative musicians will think up ways to skip round them merrily. For example, Regina Spektor wanted some hip-hop-esque beats on her early recordings but she didn’t have a drum machine nor a drum kit, so she beatboxed essentially. It all added to the charm of her earlier work. The second way to record music is the digital way, which is far easier and allows you to do more with the music technologically speaking. Artists like Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails are notoriously known for being a lover of things like ProTools for making his life as a recording artist a lot easier.
I believe we have a similar thing going on with CMS. Yes, the likes of WordPress and Blogger have shortcomings and are not perfect but the real fun and challenge in making your blogs/websites work is figuring out how to navigate around these pitfalls to create something that you’re happy with and the reader will be happy with. With things like Smartest, on the other hand, the possibilities are not only endless but also without major setbacks.
Again, feel free to tell me I’m going mad.
