Stop predicting the death of email (or anything else)

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If you’re considering writing an article predicting the death of some form of dominant technology, please read this first.

Technologies seldom just die. Instead, they tend to do two things:

  1. Evolve
  2. Become refined

The evolution of technology is obvious: televisions get bigger, computers get faster, phones become more powerful. But it’s the refinement of technologies that throw people off and lead them into misinterpreting trends. One of the most obvious (and annoying) examples is email.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard people predict the death of email (usually because it makes a good headline, or a shocking interjection during geeky conversation). As is the case with all absolutes, this is a terrible oversimplification.

Rather than saying that email is dying because of Facebook, Twitter, instant messaging, texting, etc., I think it’s more accurate to say that electronic communication is being refined. Whereas email (and later, IM) used to be the only mechanisms we had to communicate electronically, we now have several more options, all of which work slightly differently and meet a slightly different need. I believe these differences are complementary rather than competitive.

Service Communication Method Properties
Email Asynchronous
(no immediate response expected)
  • Secure (if done properly)
  • Easy to archive
  • Relatively open (anyone can email you)
  • Medium priority (sometimes ignored)
Instant Messaging Synchronous
(immediate response expected)
  • Responses are typically very fast
  • Tightly controlled network (buddy lists, rosters, etc.)
  • High priority (difficult to ignore)
Twitter Publish and subscribe –
open network
  • Completely open network (subscribe to anyone you want)
  • Extremely casual (say things you’d never bother to put into an email)
  • No response expected or required
  • Low priority (easy to ignore)
Facebook Publish and Subscribe –
closed network
  • High level of control over network
  • High discoverability (easy to find people)
  • Low commitment (communicate with people you wouldn’t normally email or call)
Texting (SMS) Asynchronous
(but with a synchronous expectation)
  • Highly available (almost anyone is reachable no matter where they are)

Personally, I use all of the communication mechanisms listed above, and I use them for very different purposes. I’m not about to start communicating with business contacts and colleagues exclusively through Twitter (even though my Twitter URL is on my business cards), or send out a white paper via SMS, or CC 500+ people on an email with a simple status update (“just had my first cup of coffee this morning”). In other words, while electronic communication continues to be refined, none of these forms of electronic communication is likely to die in the immediate future.

One trend in particular that leads to people to conclude that email is dying is the fact that young people are less likely to use it. If your kids look at you funny when you tell them to email something to you, you might make the mistake of assuming that they will cary that prejudice with them throughout life. Maybe they will, or maybe they just don’t have a need for email yet. The day will eventually come when they will probably rather email their thesis to their professor than post it on their Facebook wall.

When talking about the death of technology, it’s important to separate the technology — or the use of the technology — from the implementation. Yes, VHS is mostly dead, but it might be more accurate to say that the implementation of how people record and watch video has evolved to DVDs, Blu-ray, DVRs, portable devices, and streaming video.

The last thing I’ll say is that some technologies certainly do die. For instance, it’s possible that satellite radio will completely go away someday (possibly very soon). But I would argue that these are technologies which really didn’t make much sense in the first place, and never really reached critical mass (both in numbers, and in psychological acceptance). In my mind, email makes a huge amount of sense. I use it very differently than I used to, and I believe that in 5 to 10 years, I will use it very differently than I do today, but I’m pretty sure I will still have a need that only email (or whatever email evolves into) will meet.

Tips for deploying a LAMP stack on Amazon EC2

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If you’re interested in using Amazon EC2 and other services to deploy a LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP) stack, you will probably find this post invaluable. I spent about three full days migrating all my sites over from a physical dedicated server to an EC2 instance, and what follows are several things I learned during the process.

This post will cover the following (in varying levels of detail):

  • Selecting and setting up an AMI (Amazon Machine Image) with Apache, MySQL, and PHP.
  • Setting up an elastic IP address.
  • Setting up an EBS (Elastic Block Store).
  • Sending email from an EC2 instance (not as easy as one might think).
  • Backing up your data and web applications.

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Review of “I Am Legend” (the novel, not the movie)

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Ever since I reviewed the movie I Am Legend last year, I’ve been meaning to read the book. After finishing Kim Stanley Robinson’s Red Mars, I wanted something a little lighter (figuratively and literally), so I decided it was finally time to give I Am Legend a read. Not only is the book far more interesting than the movie, but it’s also far more meaningful.

I Am Legend goes much deeper than just fantasy and horror. It’s a very well written novel which explores the psychological challenges of solitude, and concepts of human (and inhuman) perspective and compassion. I’m not surprised that I Am Legend refuses to translate into a movie (it was first adapted in 1964 as The Last Man on Earth, then in 1971 as The Omega Man, and in 2007 as I Am Legend). Since the most recent attempt replaces pages and pages of Robert Neville’s ruminations and discoveries with special effects, suspense, and heroism, a great deal of the interest of the novel is lost.

Without giving too much away, there are three important differences between the novel and its most recent adaptation:

  1. In the book, Neville isn’t a scientist. He’s a blue-collar worker at some sort of plant (the book never discloses what kind), and he is forced to become an amateur scientist in order to understand what’s happening around him. Neville is often frustrated by his inability to understand what he reads and to operate the equipment he finds until he eventually overcomes his own self-doubt.
  2. The creatures in the book are vampires rather than zombie-like. This may seem like a minor distinction, but in fact, it changes the story significantly. Initially, the vampires in the novel seem like run-of-the-mill, blood-sucking clichés, but in fact, Neville is able to scientifically explain their behavior which has been misinterpreted and canonized into legend over the years. It turns out that there’s nothing mythical or fantastic about vampires when examined under the scrutiny of objective, modern science.
  3. The title of the work actually makes sense in the book whereas I don’t think it ever comes through in the movie. The alternate ending of the movie does a credible job of at least acknowledging the theme of the story, but it can’t possibly capture the gravity of the final three words of the novel: "I am legend."

I don’t want to sound overly critical of the movie, especially after giving it a good review last year. They are both, in fact, good stories, and both very much worth your time. Just don’t think that just because you’ve seen the movie, you know the story. The book will still surprise you both in terms of plot and depth.

Review of the Amazon Kindle 2

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I bought the first Kindle the second it was available (and gave it a thorough review, naturally), but sold it to a fanatical Oprah watcher the moment I saw leaked pictures of the Kindle 2. I liked my Kindle, but I found I was still more likely to reach for paper books for several reasons:

  • The battery life was really bad, probably because I kept the wireless on all the time, but having to remember to activate it in order to receive daily content kind of defeated the purpose of the incognito "Whispernet."
  • The famously poorly designed buttons were very annoying. Amazon says they want the Kindle to disappear in your hands, but when you’re always worried about accidentally hitting the wrong button, it’s hard to relax and let your guard down.
  • It was slow. I didn’t mind the refresh rate of turning a page since you can get into a good rhythm, but otherwise navigating the device was cumbersome.
  • Most of the books I wanted to read weren’t available, and despite the Kindle’s versatile capabilities, it really is designed much more for books than magazines, newspapers, or anything that comes from the web or is accompanied by images.
  • The first book I read on the Kindle (1984 — George Bush and our impending economic situation inspired me to reread several such classics) was full of OCR mistakes — so much so that it was distracting. Fortunately, the more modern books I read didn’t have the same issue.
  • The case and the way it attached to the Kindle was just plain strange. The two often came apart, and the power and network switches in the back were obscured by the back of the cover. Very curious design.

But all that’s in the past. Here are my thoughts on the Kindle 2 so far:

  • The new form factor is a huge improvement. The action of the buttons has been reversed so they need to be pressed on the inside rather than on the outside which is where you tend to grasp the device. The metal back makes it feel more substantial, and the keyboard has been dramatically improved. It’s also thinner which is a bonus when traveling.
  • The 5-way button is a significant improvement over the LCD "gutter" of the old model. It allows for much more efficient navigation which will, in turn, make some of the great features of the Kindle (dictionary, notes, etc.) far more accessible.
  • It didn’t come with a case which bummed me out. I guess I should have realized that, but in my haste to purchase one before they sold out, I didn’t read about everything that comes in the box. The first Kindle came with a basic case (poor as it was), so I assumed the second one would have a case or a sleeve, too. But in a tribute to the iPod, the Kindle 2 comes with nothing but the device itself, and a cable. Cases and other accessories are additional revenue streams.
  • The Kindle 2 does away with the external network switch. The single power switch is on the top of the device (where it won’t be covered by your case or sleeve), and control of the network is now done through a software menu. Very smart change.
  • Despite some criticism I’ve seen online, the Kindle 2 is definitely faster than the first. It’s still e-ink, so it’s not instantaneous, but there’s a noticeable improvement over the first version.
  • All my books from my first Kindle experience were waiting for me on my Kindle 2. I just had to select them from the archive section, and they immediately downloaded for free. This is an important reminder that, like the iPhone, the Kindle isn’t a standalone device. It’s part of an ecosystem which is clearly greater than the sum of its parts.
  • I haven’t been able to put the battery through its paces yet, but it’s supposed to be 25% better. I don’t think I’ll have any battery problems this time, though, because I don’t think I’m going to buy any subscriptions which means I won’t have to leave the wireless on. I’m so accustomed to reading the news on my phone or in a feed reader now that I think I’ll use the Kindle exclusively for books.
  • Amazon still charges to email documents to yourself ($0.10 each), and to aggregate blogs (about $1.99 each). I understand why Amazon does this (the cost of the wireless connection is paid for every time you buy a book, but not when you wirelessly transfer documents or aggregate blogs), but I just can’t imagine doing this when you can easily connect your Kindle via USB (on Mac and Windows), and there are so many better ways to read blogs. But just because these features don’t appeal to me doesn’t mean they aren’t useful to others, so I officially reserve judgment.

Other features of the Kindle 2 that I haven’t mentioned yet:

  • More storage. The Kindle 2 will hold over 1,500 books.
  • A new text-to-speech feature allows the Kindle to read to you. I wasn’t expecting much out of this feature, but it actually works surprisingly well. The voice and the flow are quite natural.
  • Better selection. Amazon claims there are over 240,000 books available now. I did a quick search for the next four or five books I intend to read, and they were all available which already puts me off to a better start than with the first Kindle.

Overall, I’ve been very happy with my upgrade thus far, and would recommend the Kindle 2 both to original Kindle owners, and to anyone who thought the first Kindle wasn’t ready for prime time yet. I think this time, I’m going to stick with it — at least until I see leaked photos of the Kindle 3.

How to recover from a screen saver that crashes on OS X

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I discovered the hard way that a few of the screen savers that come with OS X actually crash (at least on my machine) which means just trying to select them in "Desktop & Screen Saver" crashes System Preferences. If you’re unlucky enough to have System Preferences save the selection before it crashes (as I was), that means your screen saver will not work, and you cannot change it because each time you try, System Preferences will crash. Bad situation.

The fix, I discovered after some trial and error, is to:

  1. Open the terminal.
  2. cd into ~/Library/Preferences/ByHost.
  3. rm com.apple.screensaver.*.plist.

For extra credit, you can just remove the relevant plist file with the newest modification date which will reflect the moment you got yourself into this mess.

As a side note, I actually don’t even like screen savers, and prefer to use the "Energy Saver" option to simply turn off my display(s). The problem, however, is that you can’t configure OS X to require a password when the displays come back on. If you want to protect your workstation while you’re away, you have to configure your screen saver to activate at a shorter interval than your displays turn off.

Dear Apple: please add a password option to turning off displays so we can be energy conscious and security conscious at the same time.

Movie review roundup

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Remember that 1,300 word review of No Country For Old Men that drew over 130 comments? Well, who has time to write those anymore. Even though I’ve been on sabbatical, I’ve been too busy with other projects to write any detailed book or movie reviews, so here’s a quick roundup of movies — new and old — that I’ve seen recently, and briefly what I thought of them. What do you think? Am I way off? What else should go in the old Netflix queue?

Burn After Reading: Big disappointment. I’m usually a huge Coen fan (see above, see below), but Burn After Reading was a big miss. Despite the impressive cast, the characters were incredibly flat, and the story wasn’t the least bit engaging. Don’t waste your time on this one. See any other Coen film instead.

The Big Lebowski: I know, I know. It’s 11 years old, but I just saw a few months ago for the first time. I was driving between San Jose and San Francisco with a friend of mine who had never been to California before, and we passed an In and Out Burger. He was beside himself with excitement since he thought In and Out was a fictitious invention of the Coen Brothers. I was forced to admit that I’d never seen The Big Lebowski at which point he was scandalized. I watched it on my iPhone on the flight home, and just watched it again the other night, and plan on watching it again several more times before I die. It’s a fantastic and incredibly entertaining movie that manages to be about nothing except maybe bowling and nihilism. If you haven’t seen it, check it out. If you have, this is a reminder to watch it again.

The Virgin Suicides: Another old one, I know, but the late 90’s were a really busy time for me (so much code to write and foosball to play — you remember how it was). Anyway, I saw this one in a friend’s DVD collection, and since I like the soundtrack, I decided to check it out. It turns out I prefer the soundtrack. When the movie was over, I wasn’t really sure what I was supposed to have learned. When you watch The Big Lebowski, you know you weren’t really supposed to have learned anything. But after The Virgin Suicides, I was pretty sure that Sofia Coppola was trying to tell me something, but I wasn’t sure what it was, except that I shouldn’t lock my daughters in their rooms and force religion on them. Ok, done. I’m probably being overly harsh — it’s an entertaining movie, but not nearly as interesting as Lost in Translation which I was kind of hoping for.

The Day The Earth Stood Still: Not really worth spending the big bucks on (tickets here are $10.50 now!), but it’s worth checking out on Netflix, fios, etc. The message was a little cliché, but it was delivered in a semi-entertaining way. I think Keanu Reeves was handed his dream role as a emotionless alien, though I don’t think he had no opportunity to exclaim "whoa!" With the right expectations, you won’t feel like you completely wasted 103 minutes, but if you have anything at all better to do, make sure you do it first.

Slumdog Millionaire: Best movie I’ve seen in a long time. I love me some Danny Boyle (more below). I was worried when I had to drive an hour to find a theater that was screening Slumdog because I was afraid it wouldn’t reach enough people, but now it’s playing right down the street, so I guess it’s doing well. Slumdog is an incredibly suspenseful love story primarily about fate which is set in the rapidly evolving city of Mumbai. I’m not going to bother explaining the plot because the movie manages to be about much more than a plot summary can possibly do justice. Just see it. Trust me. It’s tragic, inspirational, suspenseful, triumphant, and it has great music and visuals. It’s even worth seeing on the big screen, if you can still catch it.

Sunshine: Again, not a new movie, but another really good one by Danny Boyle. I don’t think this movie ever really made it to the mainstream, but if you’re a Science Fiction fan, it’s a must-see, and very possibly, a must-own. The visuals and sounds are fantastic (a theme of Danny Boyle’s), and a few of the characters are almost magnetic — one of them, much to my surprise, being Chris Evans. Sunshine isn’t perfect by any means, but I think it’s one of the best SciFi movies in recent memory. And like the Coen Brothers and Charlie Kaufman, I’ll see anything Danny Boyle is involved with.

Children of Men: Simultaneously one of the best and most under-appreciated Science Fiction movies of all time. Children of Men is incredibly intense with a fascinating plot and likable characters. I’m not sure what this says about me, but I don’t think I’ve met anyone else who likes this movie very much — at least not nearly as much as I do. If there’s anything at all to criticize, you might be able to say that it’s actually too intense. I actually had to pause it at one point to give myself a few moments to recover. This is a movie worth watching at least twice as there was a lot I picked up the second time that I think I was too dazed to noticed the first.

The Tale of Despereaux: I seldom take my kids to see movies, but all the rain over the Christmas holiday eventually drove us into a theater. I think I just don’t get kids movies. The only kids movies I like are Jungle Book (the 1967 version, though I wasn’t even alive then), and the Toy Story movies. WALL-E was fun, but that’s because I like robots and Macs. Anyway, despite the impressive and no doubt expensive cast, Despereaux didn’t do much for me, or for my kids, more to the point. I think they got more out of the snacks than the movie.

Quantum of Solace: I’m not crazy about this most recent interpretation of Bond. He seems more like an assassin than a British agent. I guess psychotic revenge, rule breaking, and "dropping off the grid" is supposed to be sexy and thrilling, but it all seems kind of ludicrous to me. Everything in the movie (especially the plot) seemed secondary to Daniel Craig’s blue eyes and murderous vengeance. Quantum was clearly more inspired by the Bourne movies than Ian Fleming’s wonderful creation.

The Dark Knight: Not quite as good as Batman Begins, but very good nonetheless. It’s probably the best value of any movie I’ve seen recently as they seem to pack at least two movies into one. Certainly the best Joker ever. I’m a pretty steady fan of Christian Bale, and I’m looking forward to seeing Terminator Salvation.

Iron Man: Another very good hero movie which, like the new Batman movies, manages to actually be somewhat believable. Robert Downey Jr. makes a very decent hero, and although Jeff Bridges is far from The Dude, he makes an interesting villain. I’m glad to see that the movie industry has finally figured how to make hero movies. Now it’s time to remake Spiderman so we can finally put the Tobey Maguire abominations behind us.

Rediscovering Bluetooth

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When bluetooth first started to appear in laptops and devices, I used it as much as I could. I replaced everything with a wire or a cable with its bluetooth equivalent: headset, mouse, keyboard, printer, etc. Several years later, I have almost entirely given up on bluetooth for the following reasons:

  1. I couldn’t find a headset with acceptable quality. Although they probably exist now, for some reason, I can’t bring myself to walk around with a headset attached to my head anymore. Maybe I’m afraid of brain cancer, or worse, looking really silly.
  2. I’m tired of using batteries. I’ve started using rechargeable batteries at home for things like noise canceling headphones (which I wear when I write), but replacing batteries in bluetooth devices and/or recharging them got old. What’s the point of eliminating the wire when you still have to have a charger? Having an iPhone has allowed me to reduce the number of devices I carry around with me, so I’m pretty determined to reduce the number of devices I have to keep powered, as well.
  3. Bluetooth just isn’t that much better than wires and cables. The headset that comes with the iPhone is actually really nice, and far better than any bluetooth headset I’ve seen. Not only is it extremely small and portable (it’s just earbuds with a tiny built-in mic that picks up surprisingly well) — it also doesn’t require charging and allows you to listen to conversations in stereo.

That said, I have recently found my favorite bluetooth device in the world: my new car. I just bought a Nissan Versa for commuting into the office three days a week since trying to get by with just a motorcycle in the winter was getting (c)old. Although the Versa is, by any standard, a straight-up economy car, I decided to get the SL version which comes with a few nice features: continuously variable transmission (smoother ride and better fuel efficiency), the Nissan intelligent keyless system (as long as the RFID device is in your pocket, the car unlocks and starts without requiring a key), an auxiliary-in for my phone (they actually call that a feature!), 6-CD changer (which I’ll never use), and bluetooth hands-free. (I couldn’t bring myself to get a built-in navigation system since I love my Garmin devices so much, and although I love satellite radio, I decided to try to get by with podcasts.) Of course, I realize that none of this is exactly earth-shatter new technology, but for someone whose nicest car ever was a Jeep Wrangler (without power windows), it feels pretty fancy to me.

The best part of the car, other than the fuel efficiency, is definitely the bluetooth support. The entire system works with voice commands, and can accept incoming calls and make outgoing calls given either a number, or just an address book entry. On my way home from the dealership, I called three people I hadn’t talked to in months, just because I could. I think I’m going to do a much better job of staying in touch with friends and family now — at least on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

Of course, with convenience comes great responsibility, and even great peril. My wife borrowed the car last night to pick up some friends in a vehicle not-yet-covered in dog hair. While she was gone, I was talking with a friend of mine about a New Years Eve party when the call suddenly dropped. A moment later, my wife came in and asked me to elaborate on something my friend had just said. As soon as she pulled into the driveway, the call switched over to the car without my friend knowing, and suddenly he was talking to my wife instead of me. Fortunately, no secrets were inadvertently divulged, but next time, I must remember to go out to the car to make the call, or turn bluetooth off. I don’t worry about the NSA listening in on my conversations, but your wife catching fragments of New Years Eve stories can be disastrously incriminating.

So with a renewed interest in bluetooth, I decided to see what else I could do with my iPhone this morning only to find that the answer is pretty much nothing. Address Book (the app) used to have the ability to send SMS messages through a paired mobile phone via bluetooth, but it doesn’t work with the iPhone. Seriously. Nokia, yes — the iPhone, no. Nor is there any way to make calls using my MacBook’s speakers through my phone. I had envisioned using my iPhone’s headset to listen to music on my Mac while making or taking calls at the same time. Nope.

Considering the fact that Apple is now selling iPhones in Walmart, it’s clear that their target market isn’t exactly those with complicated bluetooth ambitions, but come on. They own all the hardware and all the software between the Mac and the iPhone, and the only integration is through a serial cable or subscription-based MobileMe? Lame, to put it politely.

I’ve always argued that the iPhone doesn’t have to be an open platform as long as it’s a comprehensive platform. Sort of like the idea of the Benevolent Dictator. But we’re clearly not there yet. I look forward to seeing what the next iPhone firmware update will bring along with Snow Leopard. Before Apple can claim to have completely reinvented the mobile phone, they must first finish recreating what the world already had. Oh, and don’t even get me started on Flash support. Until I can watch Fail Blog videos on my phone, it ain’t the "real web."

I have been vindicated by Android

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I spent many years singing the praises of the Sidekick (though not so much the Sidekick 3) which I found was usually met with consternation. I heard everything from "Oh, yeah, I think I’ve heard of that" to "what does it run, Windows Mobile?" to "1980 called and said they wanted their Sidekick back" (my favorite) to "Isn’t that a phone for teenagers?" to which I would respond that the Sidekick was misguidedly only marketed to teenagers by T-Mobile, but was, in fact, arguably the best mobile experience right up until the launch of the first iPhone (which is what finally made me give up my Sidekick 3), with the possible exception of the Blackberry for "enterprise" users.

Although I managed to convert a few people, most happily went back to their Nokia S60s or Windows Mobile abominations. But now, with the launch of the first Android powered phone yesterday, I feel I have finally been vindicated.

So what does the Sidekick have to do with Android? A great deal! In fact, I would go so far as to say that the Sidekick is the father of Android. Here’s why:

  • Andy Rubin, the founder and pioneer of Android, first founded and pioneered Danger, Inc. which created the Danger Hiptop (aka, the T-Mobile Sidekick). The significance of Andy having founded both Danger, Inc. and Android was not lost on Microsoft who acquired Danger, Inc. not long after Android was purchased by Google.
  • The Hiptop OS is based on Java, and apps are authored in the Java programming language, just as they are on Android.
  • The new T-Mobile G1 (the first Android phone) looks very similar to the Sidekick right down to the sliding screen (the Sidekick is primarily know for its flip screen, but there are models that slide, too). The G1’s keyboard looks almost identical to the Sidekick’s (the Sidekick’s keyboard was one of the best things about it — anyone who thinks a virtual keyboard is better for typing has never used a decent mobile keyboard), and the G1’s trackball was clearly inspired by the Sidekick 3.
  • I’m sure it’s no accident that Google’s launch partner is none other than T-Mobile. T-Mobile and Andy Rubin are teaming up again, and, with Google behind them this time, they are sure to get much further than the Sidekick ever did.

All this is not to say that Sidekick devices are comparable to Android phones. Clearly, the G1 (and Android in general) are far superior. My point is simple that while we praise Android and G1, we should remember our history, and all acknowledge Android’s evolutionary roots.

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Review of 21

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See it: Yes (and read the book)

I’m no book snob. I liked the book Jurassic Park, but I think I liked the movie better. And Fight Club was a much better movie than book (which is a tribute to how amazing the movie is because the book is pretty good). I could go on and on, but my point is this: I give every book and movie an equal opportunity to impress me.

I was impressed by both the movie 21, and the book that inspired it, Bringing Down the House. Which is better? The book is a better book, and the movie is a better movie. In other words, both are well done and appropriate for their genres.

I do actually prefer the story of the book (the true story) over the screen adaptation, however it probably wouldn’t have made a very popular movie. The book is much more real. It’s messy and chaotic, and since it’s a true story, it defies formulas and nice tidy endings. It would have been hard to squeeze into two hours, and it would have played out more like a documentary. And finally, I doubt it would have gotten the applause that the movie received from the audience in the theater.

The movie is clearly a Hollywood version of the book: good looking actors (MIT math geniuses probably don’t clean up quite this well), retribution, the good guys winning in the end. It was essentially a heist movie inspired by true events which made it more fun than amazing or inspirational.

The movie was entertaining. The book was amazing. Both of these things are good.

Oh, and if you were confused by the "game show host problem" discussed in the variable equations math class, it is more commonly known as the Monty Hall problem, and is fascinating and fun (insofar as probability can be).

Review of “I Am Legend”

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See it? Yes (especially if you like dogs).

My instincts told me not to go see I Am Legend. I’m skeptical of movies where big beautiful Hollywood actors play scientists (Elisabeth Shue in The Saint, Bridget Moynahan in I, Robot, etc.). But I had a free evening, and I’m a total sucker for zombie flicks, so I decided to take a chance.

I’m glad I did. I Am Legend turned out to be a very good movie. I especially appreciated the pace. I was worried during the very first scene when Robert Neville (Will Smith) was hunting caribou from a red Mustang Shelby GT in New York City at insanely high speeds, however the movie then really slowed down, really took its time, and really did a great job of exploring what it might be like being the last person in the world. That’s primarily what I wanted out of I Am Legend. Sure, zombies, weapons, and gore are all cool, but what’s far more interesting is seeing how Neville learns to adapt to isolation, and maintain as much normalcy, routine, and civility as possible.

There are several scenes where I Am Legend tries to explore the madness of isolation which I felt were a little forced, and several times when Neville is compelled to utter to himself or dictate to his computer things that he probably wouldn’t have if not for the fact that he was trying to clue the audience in on something. But the flashback scenes were very well integrated (something difficult to pull off), and overall the movie was good enough that it was very easy to overlook the few questionable scenes. I also have to mention that post-apocalyptic New York was extremely well portrayed.

Will Smith was good in I Am Legend, but his German shepherd, Sam (played by canine actors Abby and Kona), absolutely stole the show. These dogs can act circles around most of the Hollywood A-list, and certainly drew far more of a reaction from the audience than any human actors I’ve seen recently. In fact, this movie may be to German shepherd breeders what Top Gun was to Air Force recruiters. Funny how you can kill people onscreen by the dozens, hundreds, or in this case, even by the billions, but put a single dog in harm’s way, and the audience gasps with horror.

I Am Legend was a great balance between action, gore, special effects, and deliberate exploration of solitude with an ending that I thought was both tidy and unexpected.