When I posted about the sarcasm mark, I thought – Hmm…while I will never pay for this, maybe someone will, good luck with that. I had no idea that there was a group already in protest of the $1.99 download (although now I guess it is free for a limited time) here at http://opensarcasm.org/.
The sarcmark – more here in The Week and here is a funny commercial on YouTube. is evidently controversial.
That led me to a conversation with a friend (who told me about the sarcmark to begin with) about what can be trademarked, bought, sold and how a punctuation mark (before this digital age) would never be for purchase (see, it isn’t all bon-bons and Oprah here at home). The same well-read friend mentioned that the Museum of Modern Art had purchased the @ sign. While I believed her (I really did), it seems bizarre to me that the @ sign would be for purchase (the sarcmark also sort of looks like the @ sign upside down). From the MoMA blog, Inside/Out (posted by Paola Antonelli, Senior Curator, Department of Architecture and Design at MoMA):
“MoMA’s Department of Architecture and Design has acquired the @ symbol ,into its collection. It is a momentous, elating acquisition that makes us all proud. But what does it mean, both in conceptual and in practical terms?”
So the Museum of Modern Art bought the @ sign. What does it mean to you? Here is more about it: MoMA | @ at MoMA.
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