start

This old game makes it into the cabinet of curiosities because it’s one of the first games I ever remember playing. I have mixed feelings about this on a personal level; I used to hate this game, didn’t like the intro, didn’t like the music and I really did not understand how to play. Now with all that in mind please be aware I was about four years old when I played this. After finding this game on archive.org and replaying it fifteen years later, it’s really not as bad or as frustrating as I remember it being at all. It was also the first time I realised that this game wasn’t exactly new when I first played it and is now celebrating its twenty-fifth anniversary of its initial release. With that in mind, I have to say it has stood the test of time, it does what a game is supposed to do, challenge you, entertain you and for it to be enjoyable. It also shows how computer games have changed as a medium in such a relatively short amount of time.

As a child, I loved to watch Tom & Jerry every morning and after school; it played a big part in my childhood. Coming across a very early concept of how Tom & Jerry started off to how we know of it today really intrigued me in both design aspects and animation quality. Starting with the design, it was most likely at the early stages of full animation. I can still see some concepts from this version of Tom & Jerry and to the Tom & Jerry of today. The characters compared to the beloved ones now, are completely different, I bare personally didn’t think it was Tom & Jerry and it was just a name typed incorrectly. In terms of animation quality at its time as mentioned before was at its very first steps which lead to such creations like the Disney Classics. Looking at how Tom and Jerry has evolved since it birth it’s amazing to see its origins with animation and design quality progressing through the years.

It is a poem by Dylan Thomas which has then been spoken and recorded, it’s something I find very interesting about this piece of media, the idea that it is actually three mediums at play at the same time. Firstly it was written, perhaps the oldest form of media that is still considered a medium in its own right. Secondly it was spoken, a medium that I feel, in its own right at least, is rather overlooked. Then finally it was recorded and placed into the archive, the most modern media. It is this, the fusion of old and new that I find rather fascinating, as a society we are diving further and further into the digital age in such a way that it is very interesting to see the old partnered with the new so new generations can enjoy it in a medium that will endure for a time yet to come.

I love watching documentaries about Space, Astronomy and NASA like the ones presented by Professor Brian Cox on the BBC. I find it incredible that since man’s first step on the moon back in 1969, we are able to literally live in Space and carry out operations in International Space Stations that is in orbit. Also for me it’s just the concept of being able to actually float around in space and being able to look down on Earth and look up to the Sun. I’d love to live long enough to whiteness the first time mankind succeeds in interplanetary and intergalactic travel.

As a person who loves Athletics and has represented Sutton & District AC for two years, this really grabbed my attention from the very start. It’s great to see world records becoming faster and faster as the years go on from Armin Hary to Usain Bolt running unbelievable times. Also, to see how far we’ve come in terms of recording such events, has improved so much since 1960 to today (2015). From literally being pixels to 4K recording just shows how much technology has improved in such a little time.

I understand that this may be personal to just me, but I find Instagram deeply confusing in terms of its popularity. This is not in my cabinet because of the app/website itself, but more the fact it is really not so different to other websites and services on offer at the time. Instagram was initially released in October of 2010, at which point, other social networking sites, Facebook and Twitter had over three hundred million users and over 80 million respectively. These two social networking sites also allow users to share pictures with their friends, which is the same service that Instagram offers, this is why I find its popularity so confusing. Perhaps even more perplexing for me personally is that Facebook bought Instagram in 2012, and in 2013 the site grew by 23% whilst Facebook only grew by 3%1, this shows that not only was it initially successful, it has had continued success. To summarise I just don’t understand why a website/app would be so popular when other websites/apps offer a similar service already and are infinitely more popular at time of launch.