Facebook film The Social Network wins big at the Oscars

Back in November we turned our technological eye to the world of cinema for a brief review of The Social Network, the film that told the story of the inception of Facebook, and the recriminations that have bugged Mark Zuckerberg ever since.

We were effusive at the time and last night the Oscar panel showed that they have clearly heeded our words, by awarding the film three awards at its annual bash.

The awards were for best film editing, adapted screenplay and original score which, while not the big four of best actor, actress, film and director, are suitably impressive to suggest the world of technology really has become mainstream, and maybe even cool.

In fact, only a few days ago Barack Obama invited the leaders of the US's biggest technology firms for dinner to talk tech, although it may have been a ruse to find out when the iPad 2 is coming out - its 2 March, Mr President.

Everywhere you look in the technology sector these days there are tales worth telling and characters worth writing about - Oracle's Larry Ellison has even appeared in Ironman, while the firm's recent battle with SAP was the stuff of legend. Well, sort of.

Then there's the titanic struggle for control of the smartphone market. It's not impossible to imagine a story telling the tale of Steve Jobs inventing the iPhone, or maybe even the iPad, and all the events that have unfolded since those launches hitting our high-def screens soon.

However, while Hollywood appears to be happy to acknowledge the story-telling power of a tale of intelligent computer programmers creating a website, no actor at the Oscars was brave enough to turn up in a dressing gown, as Zuckerberg famously did to an early investor meeting.

Come on guys, live a little.

28 Feb 2011