I’m still not buying the fancy toothbrush
This week: alt-tech, vintage websites, host-read podcast ads, dark energy, whole milk and OnlyFans
Hi friends. Today is August 27, 2021.
This edition is coming out a greaaaat many hours later than usual, courtesy several deadlines, this engrossing Twitter thread and my imminent embarkment for the northeast wilderness. That’s right: Yours truly, already less Online than I arguably should be, am about to go camping beyond the range of even the most pitiful LTE signal. How then, you ask, will I be able to deliver my usual useless internet trivia, like: Did you know it’s been seven years since David Lynch posted his still-somehow-kinda-funny ice bucket challenge video? The answer, dear reader, is that I’m taking next week off.
Until then, let’s read some articles.
If you read anything this weekend
“Trust Me, You Want This,” by Camilla Cannon in Real Life. This is a little academic at points, but answers a question I ask at least once per day: *Why* does Quip pay Sean Rameswaram to make fun of its product? (I’m a devout listener of Today, Explained.) The answer, basically, is that all press is good press, esp. when delivered by a charismatic, parasocially connected podcast host. That said, while I love a host-read ad … I’m still not buying the fancy toothbrush.
“The CEO Trying to Build a White, Christian, Secessionist Tech Industry,” by Jacob Silverman in The New Republic. “Alt-tech” sites have always failed because mainstream payment processors or app stores or hosting services pulled the plug. So it was only a matter of time before some actually-evil genius built new infrastructure to get hate-mongers and conspiracists to the masses. That genius is apparently Gab founder Andrew Torma, a man who signs all his emails “Jesus is King.” (Email sign-off not pertinent to anything, really, but I do think it’s funny.)
“Forget Emoji, the Real Unicode Drama Is Over an Endangered Indian Script,” by Varsha Bansal in Rest of World. The fight to digitize Tulu-Tigalari script isn’t just about saving a writing system — it’s also a fierce debate about the purpose and priorities of language.
“The Fierce Legal Battle at the Heart of the Fight Over Reclining Airline Seats,” by Dahlia Lithwick in Slate. Petition for all future jurisprudence explainers to begin with a literal ELI5; also, to unexpectedly illuminate everything from Disney FastPass to snow-shoveling to the selfish monsters who recline their seats too far on flights.
“OnlyFans and the Myth of Owning Your Hustle,” by Delia Cai in Vanity Fair. You love to see a former Substackerati throw shade at the mothership, and long-time Links’ fave Delia Cai is so on-point here: Among many other things, the whiplashed OnlyFans shenanigans underscores how little power ~the creator economy~ grants its creators.
The classifieds
This edition of Links is powered by linen pants, these stuffed poblanos, the last cans of tenuously summery seasonal seltzer … and the following very wonderful sponsors:
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Postscripts
Vintage websites. Lucid dreams. The problem with cotton totes. Inside the world’s most-booked Airbnb, and because Soylent wasn’t gross enough. Urban planning lessons from The Villages. Grieving through Facebook and not hating it. Who are these fortunate one in four people who haven’t heard of “cancel culture”? I would perhaps like to become them.
This week, in dairy: whole milk’s “comeback” and — of course — the milk crate challenge. The rise of the TikTok tour guide. The friendships of OnlyFans. Honey Boo-Boo is (sort of) all grown up. Hyperlinks are almost accidentally blue. Last but not least: I had not previously seen a “viral semi-truck pregnancy photo shoot” … but now I’m obsessed with the genre.
That’s it for this week! Until September 10th. Warmest virtual regards.
— Caitlin