how can we wrap a digital present?

isn't it fun to unwrap presents? it adds to the excitement, doesn't it? how can we replicate the experience when it comes to a digital present purchased online and sent via an email link to download? wouldn't it mean more sales if we could somehow produce the effect? one way is to show an animation and replicate the sound of paper torn while the file is downloading. that leaves the hands bare. why do we like unwrapping presents? it's the mystery of not knowing what's inside. or the care that's been taken to present the item as a present. in the latter case it's a symbol that triggers an emotion. how do we come up with that symbol in a digital product offered online?

perhaps watching a video in virtual reality of the gift giver searching for the present, finding it and wrapping it? or a video showing us unwrapping the present which has been rendered to look like it has physical form? does wrapping translate as presentation in the online world? i don't know. can you think of something to suggest?

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Shouldn't photography exhibits go online?

This thought was posted on Thinkaloo on 19 March 2008 by member fibi

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This thought came to me at a photography exhibit. All photos on display were actually taken by digital cameras. If photos are digital what's the point of printing them when you can upload them and exhibit them online for the whole world to see? Shouldn't photography exhibits go online?

A photo exhibition in physical space is limited in the sense that only few people can go visit and see it. I think the concept of an online museum, where possible, should replace physical spaces or at the very least complement them.