IRL Talk

If you are looking for a podcast that can make you laugh out loud just listen out to IRL Talk. Faith and Jason both seem hilarious on their own but the dynamic between the two is hysterical. 

Beyond their wit and delightfully contagious laughter it is also an interesting look at pop culture and technology. The majority of the podcasts that I listen to analyze technology from a very high level perspective. On IRL Talk it is a fun, down-to-earth discussion between to friends that occasionally talks about initial impressions on new technologies alongside of culture, movies, and television.

AirPort Extreme & Design

I have always had a peculiar fascination with Apple's choices around wireless routers. I have quite often told people, when asked what my favorite apple product is, that it's an AirPort Express. That has changed since they switched to the current generation of them, however.

The Accidental Tech Podcast that was released today has a rather interesting discussion around the Design of the AirPort Extreme and routers in general. Definitely worth a listen as it really hones in on the importance of design for even those products we generally setup once and forget about.

Still Not Buying It

Ellis Hamburger over at The Verge had this to say about Yo:

Yo is a great way to annoy your friends, but it could also turn into something much more – a simple way to manage push notifications across multiple apps and gadgets.

I still am not buying into this. Several years ago, if this was a fully thought out idea, it could possibly have been valuable. Maybe. However, with Home Kit coming to iOS 8 this fall I can just call up Siri to shut down the house and it would communicate to all of my home gadgets. Not only is that easier to do but it is also does not require me to even launch an app. I admit I do not know enough about Android's recently announced approach to this, but I imagine they will have similar functionality.

Additionally, why would I pull up the Yo app to send something to IFTT? Why wouldn't I just go tell IFTT to start the process and eliminate the unnecessary middle step? Maybe it's the Apple philosophy ingrained into me but I also don't get releasing an app that does relatively little and then attempting to force some sort of actually functionality into it. Especially functionality that seems to be unnecessary come this autumn.

Where do I sign up?

As written over at The Verge:

A Free app that does nothing but trumpet "Yo." at your contacts has found its way into the US App Store's Top 10 List, thanks to social media's irrepressible love for the inane. The attention even attracted $1 million in angel funding for Life Before Us LLC, the app's developer.

Can someone get me a meeting with these angel investors because I've got some ideas for stupid apps? Like one that does nothing but make the sound of a toilet flushing when you open it. Because that's what they are doing with their money by supporting this sort of ridiculousness.

Amazon Fire Phone

I will admit I haven't had a chance to spend a lot of time looking over the information on this newly announced – but heavily rumored – phone from Amazon. However, the thing I'm seeing a lot of talk about is concerning Dynamic Perspective and the three dimensional aspect to the display. I will certainly be spending more time looking over this.

When it comes to Dynamic Perspective I feel that this is an interesting idea, although I don't consider amazon to be the first to try it. This is really just a more elaborate version of the parallax idea introduced in iOS 7 by Apple. The guys over at The Prompt shared similar thoughts to this on their latest Podcast. Their discussion of the phone is definitely worth listening to.

The UX with dynamic perspective is more important here than it would be for most other features and products. If it is not well designed I fear that this feature could quickly become more irritating to the end user than helpful. Thus far my friends who spend time on UI and UX design seem unimpressed.

As for the three dimensional aspect to the dynamic perspective I have been wondering why anyone would want this. Ever since the rumors of it first started rolling around the web I just have not been able to pinpoint a major reason why. I can turn and twist my phone and my head to see three dimensional images, but I cannot immediately think of any great benefit to this. I will be considering possible benefits more over the next several days but the only one that comes to mind is shopping for products. Seeing the object from a three dimensional perspective could be helpful when deciding on certain purchases. Combined with the Firefly technology this definitely seems to be what Amazon had in mind. Gruber stated in his typically succinct manner, "it seems optimized – perhaps unsurprisingly so – for making it easy to buy things on Amazon." That is the same feeling I have about this phone and it makes me wonder if Amazon even considered their customers when designing this device. Initially I cannot help but feel they spent all their time wondering how they could hock more stuff on Amazon.

It's also interesting to note that the product page on Amazon doesn't mention the word 3D once. Weird that the rumors and discussion around it make such a big deal about it but the page that actually allows users to buy it doesn't say 3D once.

First to Market

A video is spreading across the web that explains why Sony's Betamax ended up being defeated by JVC's VHS Cassette. It is interesting to see this video becoming viral on the day of its posting considering it is discussing technologies that are now considered obsolete.

Bill Hammack, AKA Engineer Guy, does a beautiful job of breaking down how the engineering behind a product, the marketing strategies, simple customer benefits, and the strategies behind establishing market share contribute to the success of a product. You can take a look at the video below. However, what stuck out to me most was his statement at 3:16. Bill States:

"The Betamax versus the VHS dispels the notion that simply being first to market is the most important issue."

This sent me thinking about the recent efforts of various companies trying to be first to market and the flops they have quickly become. Consider Samsung's attempt at a smart watch for fear of a future release from Apple. Of course the comparison doesn't fit perfectly because the most of the companies fighting to be first to market aren't even producing quality products like Sony did with the Betamax. However, the point still stands that a lot of companies could learn something by taking their time, analyzing markets, and keeping in mind the end user. The Betamax versus VHS story is a good example as to why. 

Beginnings

The more time I spend thinking about design the more I find an obsession with beginnings. There is an overwhelming amount of time devoted to analyzing, planning, and strategizing. Even when a good designer completes a project they immediately begin evaluating it and start looking for ways to improve the product and start the cycle over again. This could perhaps explain why so many of my friends who are designers seem quite miserable. They love their work and they create beautiful projects, but they are never completely satisfied. They are so good at what they do they end up focusing on minor pieces that can be improved rather than enjoying what they have created.

This concern can also stifle many of us from even getting started on a project or sharing the work we have done. I know I for one am incredibly guilty of this. For example I have attempted to design the structure the purpose of this website over and over again to the point I was never actually producing anything. Only recently have I realized that the best designers are often the ones who can create something, revel in it for some time, and then comfortably wipe the slate clean and start over. Producing something imperfect and being okay with that seems to be a fundamental stepping stone on the path to being a great designer. God is the greatest designer of all time according to my friends that believe in a higher power. But even God produced a world that initially appeared to be perfect but ended up being quite the opposite. Then, as the story goes God decided to wipe his design clean with a flood before starting over with only the pieces that were truly good. We could even argue that Revelations suggests that God knows this cycle of starting over will be a necessary step again in the future.

I will stop that comparison here before someone thinks I am claiming designers are gods. Although, I do have to admit that some of the designers I know certainly seem to think they are. What I am trying to say, however, is that perhaps we should start all new projects by declaring, “I will fail.” And that’s okay because our failures help us identify areas for improvement while simultaneously letting us see what worked well and should be retained. With that concept in mind I would like to begin this blog. I hope you enjoy watching me fail.