Deepthinking

Thinking iPad

The problem I’m now seeing having with all these “techies”, and the pundits that cater to them, is that their view of things is so myopic and clouded by their past and present that they fail to see outside their limited world view. Sitting comfortably in the “Old World”, they cannot see why what’s so great about “The New World”. If you want a good take on this divide between the “Old World” and “new World” views of things, I suggest this post by stevenf.

Looking at the iPad, and more importantly at a select number the iPhone apps (that will run on the iPad), this little device will surely enhance a lot of creativity. Just off the top my head:

1. FourTrack, picture this on an iPad (though to truly make it work an input adapter for the dock to allow 4 line input is really needed) - think of how easier it would have been for The 88 than using it on an iPhone
   
   
2. ReelDirector, this, on an iPad, makes in the field video creation (assuming you can get the files onto the iPad via the dock connector) a compelling tool.
   
3. Photoshop Mobile hints at something a digital photographer would love, but I in a more robust beefed up form.
   
4. Not to mention the potential use of the use this will get by every designer, filmmaker, photographer, etc.  as a way to carry and show their work to people without having to drag that laptop around (though a iPad specific app for portfolio management would be a help).
   

The main thing these potential uses/apps have in common is that they would allow those creating digital content to ditch the laptop in the field and have a device that is focused on the task at hand. The problem right now is you have to lug around apps that really belong on the studio with you, apps that really were never meant for the field. The iPad, could potentially, open up a whole new world for tools that help with the creation of digital content in the field.

I personally see the iPad less as a media consumption device (the immediate reaction of people) but more as the opening shot to a future where people who are making creative content have a look that doesn’t get in their way but enhances their ability to be creative.

DesignVerb! – Ikea Facebook Showroom: buzz marketing

“Forsman & Bodenfors came up with another innovative digital campaign for Ikeaby turning one of Facebook’s basic functions into a promotional tool, to promote the opening of the brand’s Malmo outpost, its most modern store to date. Armed with little media budget, the agency came up with an unconventional Facebook campaign that started with a profile of the store’s manager, Gordon Gustavsson. Gustavsson uploaded pictures of the store’s showrooms to his photo album and any “friends” who tagged the products with their names then won those items.”

via www.designverb.com

Tumblr: getting interaction right :: Headshift

via headshift.com

Tumblr is a fascinating example of how to get user generated and community sites right.   Fundamentally it's a microblogging platform, but I think this sells it very short of the whole picture.  It's succeeding by taking the interaction patterns that are part of a whole variety of other services, and creating something which is more than the sum of the parts.  

Not only is it a compelling user experience, but it's also become the basis of some very interesting virtual communities.   Amongst a certain subsection of teenagers, Tumblr has gone viral and is getting a significant amount of their online time - in fact, for heavy users, I'd say it's overtaken Facebook as their "platform of choice".

Protecting Reputations Online in Plain English - Common Craft

Aimed at younger or inexperienced web users, this video helps explain the long-term risks of sharing inappropriate photos, videos and stories on the Web. We've seen the stories and heard personal accounts about people who shared an inappropriate photo that eventually caused them to lose their job or miss an opportunity. Preventing this kind of problem can come from increased awareness about how the Web works and what it means to share something with the public. This video is about taking responsibility and making choices to protect reputations. 

via www.commoncraft.com

So that's how you follow someone here. But you still have to know to go to http://profile.typepad.com/ (insert name of person)

They really have to work on this.

Tablet Musings

As I read all the predictions and ramblings about it I feel that they are missing a big point. All of them are concentrating on the tablet as a device to consume media on, which it would probably be its primary use. But one must remember that Steve Jobs, while he would like you to buy music and movies through the iTunes store, really wants you to produce and publish your own creations (see iMovie, iPhoto, Garageband, etc.)

If you look at the iPhone, and a particular class of apps, I can see this mythical table being use for the facilitation in the production of media, namely audio, video and photography. But this is not the optimal platform for this type of application - you really need a tablet form factor, you need that extra screen area.

Now you can say that current tablets allow this but they are running desktop apps which really should be used on the desk top. What’s really needed is simplified UIs and more importantly an optimized OS, a la the iPhone.

The apps on the iPhone that would be stellar on a tablet (after all the necessary redevelopment - not just porting over) I think are:

• For musicians: Four Track - wonder what The 88 would have done with a tablet-ized version. Just add a XLR to USB input box and you got  a portable studio.
• For Video Producers: ReelDirector would be a killer on a tablet
• For Photographers: Abode's Photoshop.com app gives a hint a the possibilities.

Currently the tools available for content producers are really designed for use "in the studio". Yes, they can be run on a laptop but you are still working with studio apps. A tablet though that had applications (and a streamlined, non-intrusive, UI) would be a support tool to content producers outside of the studio. It would augment production in the field and hopefully allow for publishing on the go as well.

While the tablet would be a killer content consumption device, it could be even a greater killer mobile content creation device. A device that is an extension to the Mac in the studio.

TypePad Micro Frustration

I've been looking at TypePad's new Micro blog setup - mind you not to replace tumblr but to compliment it in a way and have a place for other posts beyond the sights and sounds I seem to put up here.

The problem, and frustration, is that the implementation is half-baked in a way. If they rolled this out to "go after tumblr" (see Stowe Boyd @ /message for more on this) then they have, in my opinion, missed one crucial element - the ability to follow a typepad blog that one comes across.

A main aspect of tumblr, and I am assuming what TypePad intended, is the ability to follow other blogs.  But in the case of TypePad's implementation, there seems to be no way of arbitrarily following a current typepad blog unless it is on the featured page. At least I can't figure out any way to do it.

In the case of /message, I would like to follow it the same way I follow Stowe Boyd's underpaidgenius here. On tumblr pages it is easy, just click on follow. But TypePad seem to have missed this basic button that now should exist. Without it, there is really no way to "grow" a list of people I want to follow.

Like I said...frustrated

2010 - Getting a little less social (media) that is

Have decided to, if not delete my facebook account, then to at least deactivate it and "move on".

In Google We Trust?

philosecurity » Blog Archive » Our Google Government

(found via broadstuff.com)

In other words, according to Google, United States state governments haveliterallyhanded over our public data to be held and managed by a private company which has well-publicized partnerships with other governments such as China. The data is physically stored in Google’s buildings, on Google’s servers, managed by Google’s employees. This means Google now controls our government’s access to it’s own data.
....
Google is outside our system of checks and balances. They are quickly becoming absolutely necessary for our government to function, but their operations are not transparent and are outside the control of the American people.

Sometimes you have to worry

Toronto has an issue with growing up

Toronto Councillor defends move to quiet Queen West - The Globe and Mail

Residents, bar owners are on opposite sides of noise complaints, but both dislike city's new rules. ‘It's sort of worse than a compromise'

The problem with regulation of this kind is that it has to be more thought out then what seems to be the knee jerk reaction of city councillors. Toronto is notorious for not planning a damn thing when it comes to development and the "chickens are coming home to roost" so to speak.