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Milton Glaser: Taking the Long View (On Technology) Part II

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A few weeks ago we excerpted a Graphis interview from a then-70-year-old Milton Glaser who had some interesting things to say about technology and work ethic almost 20 years ago.

He’s still talking about the subject today. In the book, Twenty Over Eighty (Princeton Architectural Press, 2016), authors Aileen Kwun and Bryn Smith sit down with twenty masters of architecture and design over the age of eighty.

Here is some of what Glaser, who turns 88 this year, had to say about technology and the continuation of his career:

What kind of tools do you use, and how have the changes in technology influenced the practice of design? Do you use the computer often, or do you try to avoid it?
Well, I use the computer every day, but I don’t touch the computer—I always have somebody by my side. But I also know more about how to use a computer than most people because I am not dominated by the computer’s sensibility. 
One of the problems with the computer is that it is such a powerful too that people become susceptible to its will. The computer forces people, as all tools do, to work in a way that it likes to work—you begin thinking in a way that the computer prefers, and everything comes out looking the same.

Do you ever consider retiring?
No. That’s like asking a painter if they would ever retire, because it’s not a job. I imagine if I was working at work that I hated, I’d be happy to retire. But to work at things that are central to your life, and your perception of yourself, why would you want to retire from that? I want to die at my desk. 
Retirement is an American concept. It’s done so that another generation of workers can take over the jobs of the previous generation. There was an economic reason for that to happen, so they invented supporting activities like going fishing and endless vacation or something. The ideas of retiring—even the word itself—it’s terrible.
To read the entire interview, purchase the book here. See Glaser’s Graphis Master portfolio here.
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