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Hardware is going to be interesting again

This interactive LED coffee table looks fun! And it got me thinking about computer hardware.

There seems to be a recent increase in interesting computing-related hardware: tablet PCs, multitouch screens on phones, and Microsoft’s concept tabletop “Surface” PC.

We human creatures like to interact with our surroundings. We want to affect change, to make our mark; in large (cities) and small (graffiti) ways. Touch technology looks like making technology interesting again to interact with.

Let’s face it; input devices have been pretty limited and boring to date. We have mainly had buttons, rolling wheels, and rolling balls (using a LED or laser instead of an actual ball is still promulgating this rolling ball concept). Laptops have more recently brought us touchpads (slide/stroke) and trackpoints (finger-push/pull). Pen-based devices like graphics tablets and tablet PCs are still not widely used.

With cameras, microphones, fingerprint readers and accelerometers making their way into …

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Recent Posts

Cigarette pack books

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Spotted these books at Kinokuniya Singapore that look like packs of cigarettes. Interesting use of the notoriety of the cigarette pack.

Advertising tags on train handrails

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Spotted these advertising tags on the Singaporean trains (MRT). They have little cut-outs at one end to enable them to hand on the overhead hand rails.

Three things that matter most

I was asked what were the three things that really matter to me about my work recently. These were my on-the-spot responses:

Making a difference, making a contribution, changing something for …

Design is unnecessary and materialistic

In this News Limited story, Philippe Starck says design is dead and his work ‘unnecessary’.

“I was a producer of materiality and I am ashamed of this fact, … …

A nostalgic whirl

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I had a council rubbish collection day last month. I threw out two PCs, a pile of SCSI storage devices and a scanner (leftovers from my mi$$pent …

Professional signage

Here’s an example of how good signage ought to be done.

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The designer has considered the contexts of use: people who are driving past or looking for the …

Management intentions show through

See this Sydney Morning Herald story on how CityRail transit officers don’t actually have the authority to issue valid tickets.

How much more ridiculous can CityRail management get? Situations …

Taglines and names

Agonising over a tagline for your business? Have a look at these professional results.

And I do recommend following the link to 37signals.

Thanks to Stil.

Stupid street signage

Here’s another example of design done in piecemeal isolation; divorced from the wider context of its application, the environment in which it is deployed. The design in question is the …