Snowboat
Here you go... some random witterings and twitterings on the things I find interesting.
Cell Phone Shipments No Longer Growing
For the first time ever, the volume of new handsets is no longer growing. This is big news. What will it mean?
http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2009/01/26/cell-phone-shipments-no-long...
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Design is a tool, not just a deliverable
Great comment from Henning Fritzenwalder, a User Experience Architect based in Germany. He's talking about design and visualisation and the power of creating tangible, visual artefacts to help frame discussions about development and functional specification
"All development lifecycles based on the waterfall principle have a common shortcoming: The moment of truth, when all stakeholders can check the visual results with their expectations comes at the end / too late to change anything big.
There's a way to overcome this situation and improve the design results. First, you need to agree on this: Design is a service that transforms logic concepts, expressed in flows and ambiguous words into a clear, non-ambiguous, tangible visual vision.
Second: If design is a service that helps to turn something ambiguous into something clear and well-defined, it can help stakeholders to agree on a common vision and is no longer only the result of the process, but a part of it.
Third: If design can help stakeholders to agree on strategy and requirements, each step of the lifecycle needs to be accompagnied by a visual draft that visualizes the strategies and requirements. So that along with the final requirements you'll have a final design"
There's a way to overcome this situation and improve the design results. First, you need to agree on this: Design is a service that transforms logic concepts, expressed in flows and ambiguous words into a clear, non-ambiguous, tangible visual vision.
Second: If design is a service that helps to turn something ambiguous into something clear and well-defined, it can help stakeholders to agree on a common vision and is no longer only the result of the process, but a part of it.
Third: If design can help stakeholders to agree on strategy and requirements, each step of the lifecycle needs to be accompagnied by a visual draft that visualizes the strategies and requirements. So that along with the final requirements you'll have a final design"
Beautifully put.
Here's Henning's Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/profile?viewProfile=&key=8565500&authToken=K0f3&authType=name
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A Map of Making Things...
Good summary of the movement towards micro-fabrication, hacking and unintended uses for technology.
http://iftf.org/node/1766
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In praise of a real knob...
Check this... It's a fascinating integration of physical and digital interfaces.
Audio programs like Reason and Logic have long used the "knob" metaphor to control levels and manipulate sounds, and it's always been unsatisfactory; most producers worked this out a long time ago and map different knobs and dials to keyboards and other midi-control devices. But this new tool, called SenseSurface seems to sit somewhere in between - you basically attach a plate to the back of your laptop screen and a seriies of magnetic knobs to your screen and use them to control virtual knobs on the display.
God knows if it's any good, but I like the idea and technical execution.
This is what the manufacturer says:
SenseSurface can be used with most laptops with a USB input. The sensing knobs have a custom designed movement sensor to determine position within a range of 180 degrees with a 10 bit digital output, linearity typically 1%. The magnetic knobs can be removed and repositioned immediately by picking them up and moving to a different part of screen. A unique sensing x/y matrix is attached to the rear of the laptop screen to detect the control’s position. The distance of the sensor from the screen can also be detected. The rotary controls are low friction and there are no screen finger prints as with normal touch surfaces. Linear sliders and switches can also be used on the lcd surface. For audio use, a logarithmic response can be programmed. The system is multitouch and scaleable , the number of controls on the screen is limited by the size of the screen. The screen can be at any angle.
Thanks to Nicholas Nova at Pasta&Vinegar
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Star Wars Nerd Humour
I find this immensely funny.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24973901@N04/2762458387/
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Transition Movement
This seems like a thoughtful response to what is going on right now. I think we can either decide to curl up and die and berate ourselves for our foolishness or we can try to be more positive and work towards solutions.
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Work life balance
Michael Winser said...
"A rubber ball will bounce and someone else can pick it up. That's your work life. The glass ball is family, friends, your health. Drop it, and if you're lucky it'll just crack. If you're not so lucky, it'll break into a million pieces. No matter what it'll never be the same."
Wise words.
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Connecting or Marketing?
What's the internet for?
I don't see it as a marketing channel, and I've never seen the evidence to support the view that it succeeds as such. You might argue that Google Ads proves me wrong, but the reality is summed up in the comment that Seth Godin makes with reference to Twitter. He says that Twitter isn't a marketing medium, it's a "connecting medium".
This is true of the Internet as a whole - if we just view the Internet as cheaper television we'll have failed completely.
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Bizarre Augmented Reality iPhone App
No idea if this is real. Can't quite believe we're there yet.
Also, there's something rather tragic about seeing someone observe the world through a screen. I find it odd to say that because I really like the idea of augmented reality. But the reality seems aesthetically unpleasing and somehow demeaning. Maybe it's just the interface looking so geeky. Would I feel the same if it was on a head up display through my glasses? I fo dislike the fact that the whole purpose of the device seems to be purchasing and consumption.
Or maybe it's that I wonder if the idea of augmenting one's reality isn't a tiny bit sad.
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