In 2011 the entire tech ecosystem descended toward entropy. Devices and services had a harder time playing together, and simply choosing what to use became an occasion for a flowchart. Some of the simplest tech questions — How should I send a text message to a friend? Which video phone service should I use? — are now hopelessly fraught.
There’s a big opportunity, in 2012 and beyond, for startups that attempt to solve the complexity problem.
Today’s flow of creative expression, riding a tide of billions of instantly accessible digital images and clips, is rapidly becoming so free and recycling so reflexive that it is hard to imagine it being slowed, much less stanched [by copyright law].
“HERO,” it turns out, is a Forrester acronym for Highly Empowered and Resourceful Operatives — “the 17% of information workers who use new technologies and find innovative ways to be more productive and serve customers more effectively.”The report goes on to offer six steps IT departments can take to "ease Macs into their enterprises" and three case studies of companies that have done so successfully."Stand in the way," Forrester concludes, "and you will eventually get run over."
From his living room to the iPad in yours, Steve’s aesthetic, his quality, carried all the way through. The following words are from Steve Jobs’ Stanford commencement speech in June 2005:
“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.”
“Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”
On Technology
“It takes these very simple-minded instructions—‘Go fetch a number, add it to this number, put the result there, perceive if it’s greater than this other number’––but executes them at a rate of, let’s say, 1,000,000 per second. At 1,000,000 per second, the results appear to be magic.” [Playboy, Feb. 1, 1985]
***
“The problem is I’m older now, I’m 40 years old, and this stuff doesn’t change the world. It really doesn’t. “I’m sorry, it’s true. Having children really changes your view on these things. We’re born, we live for a brief instant, and we die. It’s been happening for a long time.
***
Technology is not changing it much — if at all. “These technologies can make life easier, can let us touch people we might not otherwise. You may have a child with a birth defect and be able to get in touch with other parents and support groups, get medical information, the latest experimental drugs. These things can profoundly influence life. I’m not downplaying that.
But it’s a disservice to constantly put things in this radical new light — that it’s going to change everything. Things don’t have to change the world to be important.” [Wired, February 1996]
***
“I think it’s brought the world a lot closer together, and will continue to do that. There are downsides to everything; there are unintended consequences to everything. The most corrosive piece of technology that I’ve ever seen is called television — but then, again, television, at its best, is magnificent.” [Rolling Stone, Dec. 3, 2003]
Friday, 19th August, 3:36 PM
Key principles of digital #typography: http://j.mp/nEhiny #fonts #css #webdesign
Wednesday, 17th August, 11:33 AM
@ericasadun Your app page clearly shows it has OneStar, but your app didn't automatically call 911 after my car accident. ONE STAR
Tuesday, 16th August, 6:39 PM
What if nobody knows what your icons mean? Guess what -- chances are, they don't: http://j.mp/rj02xj #ux #ui #icons
Tuesday, 16th August, 12:25 PM
@ericasadun have a look at StarFall HD http://j.mp/q5EvFv and the more complex SpaceStation: Frontier HD (40% off) http://j.mp/qhNfnX
Monday, 15th August, 11:23 AM
NYT paywall is porous, but that’s a feature, not a bug. Allows anybody to read any article they like, makes NYT inviting: http://j.mp/qjWDVH
Monday, 15th August, 10:07 AM
To be competitive, Google+Motorola first have to design amazing integrated products, which neither's really done before: http://j.mp/mSFXLa
Sunday, 14th August, 4:59 PM
It's not that PC manufacturers are quitters. It’s that they have the entirely wrong mindset to build must-have products: http://j.mp/pPcj6p
Friday, 5th August, 2:43 PM
@sugarsock content aware fill, woo hoo! #cs5
Friday, 5th August, 2:04 PM
Game mechanics a part of #design and #usability, takes understanding users wanting gratifying flow: http://j.mp/cJB4b0 #ux #gamification
Thursday, 4th August, 2:25 PM
Understanding how users learn can help us design experiences that support the user throughout the entire process: http://j.mp/oDUGly #ux
Wednesday, 3rd August, 5:05 PM
British government says #copyright over-regulates to the detriment of the UK, wants to make "format shifting" legal: http://j.mp/pwEdsO
Wednesday, 3rd August, 3:48 PM
Like Horseshoe crabs or those giant flies in the jungles of South America, fax machines have proven nearly unkillable: http://j.mp/qOtLw9
Tuesday, 2nd August, 1:23 PM
@sugarsock Yes http://t.co/ca7gW24 is a side project to make vid hosting simple. Thanks for checking it out. Let us know what you think.
Tuesday, 2nd August, 1:06 PM
@sugarsock Best luck with the talk. Do you have a little Flip video or Kodak Zi8 to record it? Post it on sugarsock.vive.ly!
Monday, 1st August, 11:54 PM
@sugarsock today mine was 39 days out of warranty. fell on stone, shattered face, they replaced free, in & out under 5 mins, & easy restore
Monday, 1st August, 11:49 PM
@sugarsock On ITVfest Hollywood theme, u wrote "not dressing"... "don't keep a lot of... clothing on". Twitter matching isn't too smart.
Monday, 1st August, 11:21 PM
@sugarsock I think, to be fair, both Nokia and Samsung make no-profit phones for pay-as-you-go services. But I like Apple's model better!
Monday, 1st August, 1:37 PM
What profits can look like when people love, and evangelize, your product's user experience: http://j.mp/rdGroN #iphone #stats
Friday, 29th July, 6:53 PM
House committee approves bill requiring ISPs to spy on their users: http://j.mp/nafBhD #eff #privacy #internet #legal
Thursday, 28th July, 3:09 PM
With an LP, I possessed something tangible. When I download from iTunes, I can listen, but I possess nothing I can touch: http://j.mp/pLrhZf
Thursday, 28th July, 12:31 PM
Rethinking ad supported vs. web subscription differentiation as the difference between Coach and Business Class: http://j.mp/oNZng6 #ux
Tuesday, 26th July, 3:31 PM
How Apple Computer became Apple Inc., illustrated in 3 graphs: http://j.mp/p8Cmzo #apple
Tuesday, 26th July, 3:14 PM
New data indicates that #HTML5 is not just going to be big, it’s going to be huge: http://j.mp/ppGc6K
Monday, 25th July, 7:04 PM
There's a good chance that with enough data analyzed smartly enough, many events are predictable with useful accuracy: http://j.mp/pa1yNX
Monday, 25th July, 5:54 PM
Five popular web strategies to get you noticed that don't work, and one that does – be remarkable: http://j.mp/puPv13 #strategy #business
Friday, 22nd July, 1:25 PM
Chosen is a fantastic #javascript plug-in for #jQuery and #Prototype to make long select boxes usable: http://j.mp/pULEaN #ux #ui
Wednesday, 20th July, 7:49 PM
Tom Anderson, MySpace founder, on whether Google will favor an algorithmic or user-controlled approach to your stream: http://j.mp/qYWDd6
Wednesday, 20th July, 1:07 PM
Picking apart the TechCrunch redesign with a user test: http://j.mp/oOkuHc #ux #design #usability
Monday, 18th July, 9:11 PM
The #iPhone Home Button shows how intuitive a single simple action can be if performed in context: http://j.mp/qf9s92 #ui