Brian Lam, Gizmodo Editor, The Inaugural Short Attention Span Interview

Today marks the first in a series of "Short Attention Span Interviews." Quick discussions with people who make news, thinkers, leaders, people with opinions, or who can fake it. The topic will generally be the way technology is impacting us, changing us, rewiring us, seducing us, working for us, and so forth.

We are privileged today to have as our guest Brian Lam, editor of Gizmodo (www.gizmodo.com). The site, one of the most viewed on the Internet, is in a fierce battle to be the premier place to find the latest news about new gadgets. The pace at which they gather and present news is formidable.

Brian's title should be FEO - frenetic executive officer. The guy is going non-stop, keeping either one step ahead of or one step behind the technology his site describes. (he's also a thai boxer, which would make for a dangerous combination but he's a darn nice fellow).

A bit more about Brian in this story I wrote about the Always On Culture: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/technology/06sweat.htm

And, herewith, in his own words, the short-attention span interview with Brian Lam:

Q:
What's more addictive: cheese popcorn, or your iPhone (or whatever phone you use)? Compare and contrast (use a different snack food if you'd prefer)

A: iPhone gets a lot more attention than it should, I imagine. I've developed strategies to be a socially functional iPhone user, though. That means that I'll be at a dinner party and mention some wacky youtube video, to the amazement of the crowd. When people say they haven't seen it, I ask if they want me to load it up on my iPhone. Same thing for restaurant decisions, etc. I'd say that there is some counterintuitive logic here about the iPhone helping bring people together, but honestly, I do it sometimes just so I can play with a gadget. So, socially, I am not a tech addict. I want people to hang out with, I'll do that. But when it comes to finding news, I always feel like i'm running through a field of flowers and looking for the nicest ones to pick. Or something like that.


Q: Are human beings evolving to cope with the rapid onslought of digital stimulation? how?

A: I'd say that the brain can comprehend data as fast as we can absorb it by sight, generally, even multiple sources at once. I tried an experiment watching TV and playing video games at once, using two side-by-side TVs, and it worked for slower TV or slower video games. And we can spit out information faster than we can write or speak or type, so there's a limitation there. But the biggest change is that people can multitask a lot better than they could before, or at least they have the opportunities to do so, which I believe contributes to the attention deficit we've got going on in today's world.

Q: Why do you think consumers of news and information like to be updated as soon as possible on the latest developments?


A: I'm not sure. From personal experience, it's a nice feeling to be in the know. I think that a lot of our readers keep up out of extreme interest in the subject, but I bet there's a Pavlovian response to hitting refresh and getting a new nugget of information every 20 minutes.


Q: When it comes to your gadgets, what's the difference between being entertained and informed and being addicted? How do you know when you've crossed the thresshold?

A: I'm actually not addicted to my gadgets. I'm addicted to the information stream they provide. I love my job, and anything that helps me talk to my team of writers and editors across the globe is something I use with extreme frequency in an unhealthy way, some would say. I say that the online world I live in, like a socially awkward teenager playing world of warcraft, is a lot more satisfying and interesting than downing beers at the local pub or walking through the park. Offline, everything is slow motion and painful, by relative terms. For the record, i don't twitter or do much facebooking or anything else. I'm all about IM and email and any sort of online media I can find.