Recommended Reading: The case for a 'Tenet' online premiere
The week's noteworthy writing on technology and more.
Christopher Nolan should release Tenet online
Chaim Gartenberg, The Verge
This piece from The Verge was published before AT&T CEO John Stankey announced Christopher Nolan’s upcoming blockbuster Tenet wouldn’t skip theaters for an on-demand premiere, but the argument still holds true. The simple fact is going to a movie theater is extremely dangerous amid the COVID-19 outbreak, and there’s no sign that we’ll be able to congregate in front of the big screen any time soon. Plus, there’s real potential for Nolan to flip the script on VOD movie debuts. “If Nolan wants to build a legacy, releasing the first true at-home blockbuster could be a substantial credit to that legacy,” Gartenberg writes.
Inside Citizen, the app that asks you to report on the crime next door
Boone Ashworth, Wired
This detailed report about the app that allows you to follow and report emergencies (and even film them) in your city chronicles the ongoing struggle between public information, transparency, data privacy and safety. Citizen has been trying to convince people it truly wants to help in the years the service as been available for use. After all, the app was originally named Vigilante. The company’s CEO also speaks about what’s next, including the potential for a paid version with added features.
How the telephone became the first great remote-learning technology
Harry McCracken, Fast Company
Decades before Zoom, or even the internet, a telephone was the remote-learning tool of choice. Fast Company unpacks the school-by-phone initiative that began in 1939.
