By Jayson Jarmon, CEO, Lux Worldwide
A frequent scene of my now distant youth, one played time and again in front of the giant, round, black and white television in my parent's living room:
Dad: (commenting on a movie) Hey, isn't that what's-his-name? Mom: No, no, that's not him. Dad: No I'm sure of it. He was in that other thing with the girl from It Happened One Night ... Mom: No, that wasn't him. Or was it? Was he in Gilligan's Island?
The scene played itself out inconclusively ad infinitum, of course, there being no sure way to tell if it was indeed "what's-his-name," whether or not he was in that one with the girl from It Happened One Night, or whether it was somebody else all together.
It is the memory of those indecisive conversations, the kind where there was no way to find a conclusive answer to the matter, that makes the Internet my favorite thing in the world. Now the matter would be solved in matter of moments using IMDB.com, showing conclusively that it was "what's his-name" and further linking him to 50 other projects he was involved with, quite likely It Happened One Night." Of course the Internet is so much more than this, but what a cool thing to have.
In the matter of trivia, the Internet has no rival. If you need to find the name of the kid who played Clarence "Lumpy" Rutherford on Leave it to Beaver, you've got it (Frank Bank, btw). If you need to know the height of the Aurora Bridge in Seattle, it's there (btw, why are you looking at the height of the Aurora Bridge?). If you need to remember that quote from Ghostbusters, the whole script is up there (SPENGLER: Of course! Ivo Shandor, I saw his name in Tobin's SPIRIT GUIDE. He started a secret society in 1920!).
In short, the Internet is not at all trivial when it comes to trivia, and while I would not give up those time honored conversations with the parents for anything in the world, now at least, technology has provided a solution ("what's-his name" was probably Alan Hale, Sr., the father of the actor who played the "Skipper" on Gilligan's Island).
