Note
April 12th, 2010
Print is dying. Digital is surging…
Nick Bilton reports for the New York Times:
A recent blog post by Craig Mod, a self-titled computer programmer, book designer and book publisher, offers a thoughtful and distinctive perspective on the move of books from paper to interactive devices like Apple’s iPad.
Nick Bilton
Note
April 12th, 2010
The Real Mad Men
If you’ve been following my Twitter feed at all lately, you’ve probably surmised that I’ve an ever-growing fixation with AMC’s Mad Men. Mad Men is set in the 1960s in New York City. It centres around Donald Draper and his cronies — creative geniuses and advertising masterminds. David McDonald fired me a tweet describing the series as “a genuine goldmine for creative types”. I couldn’t agree more.
I stumbled across the above photograph and an accompanying article (from the July, 1961 edition of Playboy Magazine) recently. It provides an interesting look into the lives and careers of product designers at that time. Crisp, uncluttered and innovative. Beautiful.
Note
April 12th, 2010
From Scratch.
I adore architecture and interior design. I watch Channel 4’s ‘Grand Designs’ and ABC’s ‘Extreme Makeover: Home Edition’ religiously. One day in the distant future I hope to have enough pennies saved to build my own house. Until then, I’m going to sit back and follow Geoff Teehan (of Toronto based design firm Teehan+Lax) as he builds his dream home from scratch: http://204beech.com.
Note
April 11th, 2010
Twitter buys Tweetie
It was announced over the weekend that Tweetie, a popular Twitter client by atebits, has been acquired by Twitter. The app will be renamed Twitter for iPhone and become free to download on Apple’s App Store. An update to the current Mac OS X app and a new iPad version are expected in the very near future.
Article
April 11th, 2010
Twitter redesign on the cards.
Doug Bowman provides some sound advice on Twitter: “Never underestimate the reach of a @dribbble shot.”
Bowman joined Twitter just over a year ago from Google. He has been responsible for the continuous stream of interface/interaction/experience/design improvements that have been made to Twitter’s web interface since then. Continue Reading »
Quote
April 11th, 2010
What I can’t figure out is why he (Steve Jobs) is even trying (to be the CEO of Apple)? He knows he can’t win.
Bill Gates (in 1998)
Mr Gates is almost as insightful as Charles H. Duell.
Via: Daring Fireball.
Note
March 19th, 2010
Apples Human Touch
Multi-billion dollar companies are not usually noted for their humanity.
However, Apple have dedicated their homepage, usually at the heart of a company’s marketing strategy, to display an obituary to “a member of their corporate family and a good friend”. Jerry York, who passed away last night, sat on the Apple board of directors for almost 14 years ago.
The move on Apple’s part was particularly poignant considering that the Cupertino firm are gearing up to launch their latest revolutionary product—the iPad—in a fortnight’s time.
A beautiful human touch by a people-oriented company.
Note
March 19th, 2010
Websmith Tools
Websmith is a “collection of web tools and resources for Interweb Inventors”. The tea-stained creation belongs to the talented Belfast designer, Caroline Smith. Caroline is currently studying alongside me on the MA Multidisciplinary Design course at the University of Ulster.
Websmith is definitely a resource worth bookmarking.
Want
March 17th, 2010
Case-mate’s ID Case
Case-mate’s revolutionary iPhone ID case looks great. I’ll be sure to get my hands on one in the very near future … My three month old iPhone 3GS is already looking a little worse for wear.
Our stylish new iPhone 3G / 3GS protective ID case features an ultra slim slot for bare necessities—ID, cash, debit or credit card. For heading into work or out to the club, give your wallet a break. Turns out sometimes, you can take it with you.
Article
March 15th, 2010
The State of the News Media in the USA
The State of the News Media 2010 is seventh edition of PEJ/Pew’s annual report on the health and status of American journalism.
In his blog post, ‘The Money Graph’, Jeff Jarvis extracts data from the PEJ report that suggests that news organisations, fixated with implementing pay walls, are wasting precious time.
65% of online news consumers do not have a site that is so important to them that it stands out in their minds above all other sites they visit … 82% of those with a favorite site said they would find somewhere else to get the news (if they were asked to pay for the content) … Only 7% of all people who get news online through a favorite source would be willing to pay for the content. This is a sign of just how much initial difficulty the movement toward pay walls could have.
Note
March 15th, 2010
ABC Employing New Brand of Digital Journalists
A fortnight ago, ABC announced that a major restructure of their news operation would result in the loss of a number of jobs. However, it now appears that they’re seeking to strengthen their ranks with a new breed of digital journalist.
ABC has “multiple openings” for digital journalists who will need to be able to shoot their own video, produce, write and deliver stories on-air and online … In a job description that suggests the pace of digital journalism, the posting says candidates must be “capable of prioritizing and handling multiple projects simultaneously, under tight time constraints.”
Sources claim that ABC plan to commission digital journalists to work both individually and in small cells. Sit back and watch as other news organisations follow in suit.
Quote
March 15th, 2010
Wired gets it. If you’re like me, your reaction to their prototype will be an instantaneous “neat!” followed immediately by “well, isn’t it obvious it was supposed to work this way?” When something creates and fulfills expectations at the same time, you know you’ve got it right.
— Jonathan Hoefler
Note
March 15th, 2010
Future of Mobile Devices: Penguin Books
Penguin Books have recently published “some imagined book-related ipad products” (and with commentary here).
Many of Penguin’s iPad books seem hardly to resemble “books” at all, but rather very interactive learning experiences.
Robert Andrews, PaidContent:UK
I’d agree with Andrews. Formless fluid content will undoubtedly regain the traditional printed format on tablet devices. However, definite media-rich content will take on new forms and continue to evolve over time. This can only be a good thing.
If you like what Penguin have to offer; there is other ‘imagined’ tablet footage that is well worth viewing:
Note
March 15th, 2010
Designing for the Web
Mark Boulton’s ‘Designing for the Web’ is now available to read for FREE online. I got my hands on a copy of the PDF version last year and only got as far as the first chapter. I’m hoping I get a little further now that ‘Designing for the Web’ is on the interwebs and not hiding away in folder on my Macbook Pro.
Note
March 15th, 2010
Beware of the roaming charges…
Check out this infographic depicting the share of the mobile browser market, as it was in February 2010. Apple are bossing the market where the iPhone and iPod are available. Their share will only increase with introduction of the iPad next month.
Note
March 15th, 2010
Life moves fast. Don’t miss a thing.
Palm webOS lets you use multiple applications at the same time and see all your information at a glance thanks to its intuitive user interface.
Palm
Quote
March 15th, 2010
We aren’t really a newspaper anymore, we’re a technology platform.
Chris Thorpe (the Guardian) in a conversation with Andreas Ehn & Joakim Jardenberg.
Article
March 15th, 2010
NYT and NYU in Hyperlocal Journalism Experiment
The New York Times recently announced a collaborative project that will see the newspaper team up with journalism students and faculty from New York University.
NYTimes.com announced today a collaboration with New York University’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute to create a new Local community news and information Web site covering the East Village in New York City.
