Digital Classical Era (1984–2018) to the Digital Romantic (2019 — ?)

A transformation at the end of Mozart’s career accelerated with Beethoven’s.

Beethoven and the new year 2019 mark dawns of cultural eras. In music, a transformation sprouting from the end of Mozart’s and Hayden’s careers was punctuated and pronounced from the start of Beethoven’s work — the emotional Romantic music era.

Romanticism was a reaction to the rational Enlightenment. Romanticism in music, and the culture-at-large in the 18th and 19th centuries showed these characteristics, among others:

• a new preoccupation with and surrender to Nature;
• a fascination with the past, particularly the Middle Ages and legends of medieval chivalry;
• a turn towards the mystic and supernatural, both religious and merely spooky;
• a new attention given to national identity;

In 2019, digital technology will continue to progress. But within the Digital Romantic Era we’ll reject the over-cerebral, no longer living lives as easily manipulated disconnected heads. We’ll refine, define and synthesize who we are apart from the internet hive mind. What’s ahead:

• we’ll reclaim compartmentalization of function in the coming device divorce — with more functional foci splitting from the phone. Liberating our eyes from the screen and fingers from the keyboard engage neglected senses.
• we’ll re-integrate analog with digital tech and AI with human specialization — now evaluating for the best, no longer the newest, tech for any job.

In the Romantic Digital era, we’ll de-silo-ize digital social spheres with privacy decisions. As such, some will zoom back from hyper-targeted ads. (Silos painted by Guido van Helton, Brisband Australia.)

• we’ll expand the de-silo-ization of our digital and social spheres, as privacy laws roll from Europe into California in 2020.
• we’ll define the optimal strenuous life as we regain mastery over the curse of convenience.
• we’ll explore, re-discover and (let’s hope) celebrate our national identities.
• with more space exploration we’ll marvel at the natural planet that is our home.
• we’ll vacillate between chivalry and equality of genders, sure to be a bumpy ride.

Romantic eras are a re-integration of the id. And a values review, concurrent lurches to scientific advancements; combined they transform of the human experience.

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Further Reading:

Feb 2018: “Convenience seems to make our decisions for us, trumping what we like to imagine are our true preferences.” nytimes.com

Mar 2018: “Not only had I spent less time with the story than if I had followed along as it unfolded online, I was better informed, too.” nytimes.com

June 2018: Why Ad Tech Can’t Build Brands (Yet): offlinereport.net

Dec 2018: End the Innovation Obsession — some of our best ideas are in the rearview mirror: “But that fear of missing out has led us to foolishly embrace the false trappings of innovation over truly innovative ideas that may be simpler and ultimately more effective.” nytimes.com

Jan 2019: In 2019, Your Smartphone Will No Longer Be King, though it will rule more devices: marketplace.org

Jan 2019: Why we need to slow time and scale down: om.co.

Jan 2019: Apple has a China problem and an Innovation problem, says Recode’s Kara Swisher: “Markets are emotional.” cnbc.com