[ChrisMarshallNY]

I’ve heard about it, from time to time. It’s interesting, but don’t see it going anywhere.

From the official Swatch page:

> The BMT Meridian was inaugurated on October 23rd, 1998, in the presence of Nicholas Negroponte, founder and director of the media laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

That’s an oddly-phrased sentence. I wonder what “in the presence of” looks like.

[toyg]

It means it was at a Swatch marketing event that featured Negroponte in person, in the room as they started the system.

It's like saying the Amiga 1000 was launched in the presence of Debbie Harry and Andy Warhol.

Maybe because I'm European and there are direct translations in my native tongue, "in the presence of" sounds just fine if a bit official.

[ChrisMarshallNY]

Makes sense. Probably a literal translation, then.

Thanks!

[sph]

> I wonder what “in the presence of” looks like.

That is what an artificial intelligence would say, unable to comprehend the existence of the physical world :-)

(I've also just finished reading the novel Shroud by Adrian Tchaikovsky, which revolves around a similar plot point, but it's aliens)