Just a quick thought.
Asymco has a nice writeup inspired by Apple’s new iPad ad that talks about skyrocketing iPad sales but the ad from Apple really nails the beginning of the end for computing as we’ve known it.
There are no tech specs, no MHz, no RAM. It’s entirely about what people want to do with the things they buy. This keyboard for example, as my hands lumber across from key to key, this represents everything that we’ve known about computing for the past 20 years. It’s never been something that a person has truly wanted to buy, it’s only been the good-enough-for-now system of input.
Hell, I write this on a MacBook Air 11”, which I would argue to be the single best portable laptop ever made, and it’s a complete dud as to how it’s so wrong for the things I want to do. Not everyone agrees that people will abandon their laptops in droves to iPads and tablets (there is no way in hell I could) but I would argue that as the new era of post-computing begins with the iPhone, Android, iPad & such; it’s time to place bets for better making things that people want to do rather than what they can do with today’s computing tech.
Maybe a simpler way to put it would be: either keep up or GTFO.
IMO, Amazon sees the future pretty nicely.
No.
Think Again: The Internet - By Evgeny Morozov | Foreign Policy
A compelling case for a reasonable approach to technology. Technology can only do so much, governments can’t change at the whim of a Facebook user.
iPad Magazine Art Direction on Vimeo (via Vimeo)
This is the sort of the review that gets your brain going and you get this feeling that we’re at the beginning of a whole new journey.
- Design best practices
- UX best practices
- Blue sky design practices
- Interactive experiences
- Horizontal vs. Vertical
The possibilities are endless.
“What exactly is the advantage a newspaper critic has over a Web critic? Earlier screenings? (Well, not anymore.) The best film critics distinguish themselves solely through their work: Look at Dana Stevens and Karina Longworth, two of the best critics working right now. They’re simply doing great work, and they have been noticed for it. There’s no barrier for entry, but there’s a barrier for quality.”
“The problem is, in hardware you can’t build a computer that’s twice as good as anyone else’s anymore. Too many people know how to do it. You’re lucky if you can do one that’s one and a third times better or one and a half times better. And then it’s only six months before everybody else catches up. But you can do it in software. As a matter of fact, I think that the leap that we’ve made is at least five years ahead of anybody.”