The late, great Seattle newspaper columnist Emmett Watson died more than 20 years ago. A lot has happened since then in his beloved burg.
What would he say about Seattle now?
Last night, in a moment of (perhaps misguided) inspiration, I asked ChatGPT this very question, providing links to the day’s coverage in GeekWire and asking the generative AI engine to write a column in Watson’s voice and style, assessing the modern-day goings-on in his hometown. Here’s what it came up with (with links to the relevant stories added manually for reference).
Emmett Watson’s Seattle: The Ghost of Lesser Seattle Weighs In
Ah, Seattle, my erstwhile haven against the hustle, now embraced by the tech titans and start-up savants. It’s been two decades since I bid adieu, and oh, how the cityscape’s narrative has morphed.
I stumble upon GeekWire, a digital chronicle of this new world, and behold the metamorphosis. ByteDance, the parent of that whimsical app TikTok, now claims a larger slice of Seattle’s precious soil. Would these digital dramatists appreciate the drizzle and grey that once nurtured the city’s humble heartbeat?
Then there’s Amazon, the Goliath that swapped the modesty of book selling for the boundless realm of e-commerce, and now, radio re-imagination. Alas, their AMP venture hit a discordant note, yet the irony is not lost on me. They wield the baton over an orchestration of commerce, yet the rhythm of radio eluded their grasp.
And oh, the audacity! Secret price trials under a cloak of ‘Project Nessie’? The Loch Ness Monster is easier to stomach than clandestine capitalism. Amazon, you’ve truly outgrown your humble bookstore britches.
Leafly, a herald of the green rush, narrowly escaped the Wall Street guillotine, an emblematic saga of the modern-day capitalist theatre. Oh, how the once quaint corners of Pike Place now echo with the clatter of stock tickers!
The script further unfolds with Microsoft and Oracle shaking hands, laying down their swords to join forces against the unseen dragons of the digital domain. Would they herald a renaissance of camaraderie in the silicon-infested waters of Puget Sound?
And there, a savior in a shipping container, a startup wielding a ‘Weapon of PFAS Destruction’. A modern-day knight errant combating the invisible foes of contamination. Oh, the juxtaposition of medieval valor and modern vexation!
The GeekWire Summit beckons the curious and the courageous to explore the uncharted waters of Artificial Intelligence. A new era, they proclaim. Would the musings over AI echo with the same earnest debate that once resonated in the humble coffee shops of yesteryears?
A venture capital firm now stirs the pot, offering a golden chalice to the angelic investors of the Pacific Northwest. A competition of coffers, a far cry from the humble aspirations that once sewed the social fabric of our beloved city.
And as the curtains draw, the stage is graced by Satya Nadella, warning of the AI prowess extending the tendrils of a search giant. Oh, how the plot thickens with each binary beat of this digital drama!
As I saunter through the digital pages, a concoction of nostalgia and disbelief courses through my ethereal veins. The quaint, unassuming Seattle, once a refuge from the relentless march of modernity, now stands at the frontier of a digital dawn.
Ah, Seattle, the cradle of my musings, now a playground for the code-clad conquerors. And yet, amidst the silicon saga, I yearn for the echoes of ‘Lesser Seattle’, the gentle ripple of Puget Sound against the hull of a solitary ferry, the murmur of rain against the old brick facades. The symphony of simplicity.
See these samples of Watson’s work for comparison.
What do you think? Email me at todd@geekwire.com or comment on LinkedIn.