drunkenbatman goes Under the Iron
If you head on over to 'Under the Iron', you'll find an interview with me that was done over the last 1.5 months via email. Be warned, if you're having this thing read aloud, you should probably have 'the children' go to the other room.
Many things are asked, including about Apple and x86 (I still have your specific questions for posting), and due to its length and content should serve as a suitable warning for others who would also attempt the feat.
Posted by drunkenbatmanJune 21, 2005, at 02:22 PM
Comments (15)
Posted by: Jesper at June 21, 2005 03:02 PM
For fun, I measured a while ago.
Deconstructing MXS is 124-ish KB. This interview is 108KB. If you don't think the increasing size of this interview has been a subject of ridicule and jokes by both of us during the interview process, you're deluding yourself. I aim to put up a humorous comparitive chart soon enough.
Posted by: eggsnatcher at June 21, 2005 03:37 PM
Is the Bible Salesman for real, or a joke?
Posted by: at June 21, 2005 03:53 PM
I think it's a joke said with authority, I am not sure Bible salesmen exist. Entertaining read, but weird.
Posted by: Jesper at June 21, 2005 04:00 PM
The previously promised humorous charts:
http://wootest.net/dbchart1.png (Previous interviews)
http://wootest.net/dbchart2.png (Various things)
Posted by: Izzy at June 21, 2005 04:21 PM
Part of what I like about this blog is the "verbose" postings. I appreciate it when someone takes the time to retrace their steps and put everything in order. I think a lot of weblogs make the mistake of jumping to the punchline and don't give the reader enough set-up.
Your answer to that first question makes me laugh because one of the first things I was taught in med school was that during patient interviews you should start off with an open-ended question...but that you should also be sure to direct the question to the answer you're looking for.
Example:
Doc: "What brings you in today?"
Patient: "My son drove me in his car."
Posted by: at June 21, 2005 06:18 PM
I can't believe someone knows that much about bibles AND pron.
Posted by: todd at June 22, 2005 01:38 PM
Two things:
1. Very entertaining read. I especially enjoyed the answer to question 4 ("Awareness of DB started off with a bang for me..."). Specifically the "bread crumbs" paragraph. I finally understand why I end up reading a single article for half an hour. :) I was just thinking about my thought process the other day and how random it is. I find it's definitely a lot easier for me to remember what the heck I'm talking about when I write stuff down. That way I can follow my OWN bread crumbs and not get off subject (too much).
B. If you ever do happen to make that cross-country trip, definitely count me in.
Posted by: Cassy at June 22, 2005 01:59 PM
I really liked this interview. It was entertaining and interesting. Specifically, he explained much more in detail a lot of the issues he has with some of the Apple stuff, like .Mac, and Widgets and all.
Much better than the random touchings he gave the issues in the WWDC coverage. Build up. That's what makes you good DB. Stick with it.
Posted by: Ben at June 22, 2005 07:22 PM
OMFG did that go on and on and on. It's as if you've fallen in love with the sound of your own keyboard.
You come up with some great stuff every so often, but boy is it far between them. Maybe you could have a link at the top to a one paragraph version of your stories or something.
Posted by: Larry Shapiro at June 22, 2005 10:13 PM
The interview was great, but I couldn't help feel I was reading one big in-joke. It gave me a very different perspective on the x86 transition, and it was great to see you finally flesh out what bothered you so much about .Mac.
I have to agree with most of your points, and as a GoLive user I "got" the reference. I do hope that Apple is listening to what you say, but I will agree it feels one-way. At WWDC we all talk about how bad the Finder is, but there is no point anymore. They say they write down what we say, but nothing changes.
Posted by: Troy at June 23, 2005 04:16 AM
I just did a google for "prolly a bible salesman" and guess what gets the number one link :)
Posted by: eco2geek at June 23, 2005 05:36 AM
Why are people always complaining about your spelling, your grammar, your use of the word "prolly," the length of your posts, etc? Jesus Christ, it's a blog (apparently written in various states of inebriation). And yet, these same criticisms keep getting posted over and over again.
(Can I say "Jesus Christ" in front of a bible salesman? Sorry.)
"Rhapsody in Yellow" (my introduction to DB) was a very good read. I especially appreciated the way it went over the transition to OS X, as I'd quit paying much attention to Macs in the mid '90s.
Hey, maybe selling bibles will make you rich, and this blog'll make you famous.
Posted by: Jesper at June 23, 2005 06:08 AM
I'm pleased that everyone liked the length of the interview. I have *never* cut down an answer of my own willing in any of my interviews, and I'm proud of that. There's no reason to cut down anything. The web is a pageless medium - noone's going to run out of ink or toner or paper until they print it, and if they do decide to print it I think they have it coming. ;)
If DB wants to explore a tangent, I let him explore a tangent. There's just no need for me to say "okay, but that's our time for today" anywhere.
Larry: Maybe the in-joke feeling you get is because the piece touches upon many subjects, and goes for depth in a lot of them. For all I know, there could be 70 in-jokes there yet to be discovered. But even in-jokes aside, there could just be a general feeling of "I don't get this", which is unfortunate, but which mostly gets avoided because of the many subjects.
DB gave me his "secret recipe" to his writing the other day. I'll never in a million years reveal it, but it's all too simple and it applies to everything I've read by the guy, and it's part of what makes reading stuff he writes so entertaining.
Posted by: cjm @ sbc at June 23, 2005 06:24 AM
I can safely say I've never seen an interview an like that before. I learned a ton. Thanks. You're no bible salesmen, but I do wish I knew what you did and your age, as your knowledge is all over the map. I assume my image of you rambling to yourself on a perch overlooking the city with a beer in one hand and your cape in the other is not correct. :-)
BIBLE SALESMAN??!?!?!? Someone unkinked drunkenbatman's internet cable again. That interview is huge.