not what you do but how you do it

The iPhone was announced earlier this year as anyone reading this blog knows by now. I watched Steve Jobs' Keynote Address to MacWorld (not knowing the hour and a half commitment I would be making in doing so) shortly after the announcement. The iPhone is without a doubt revolutionary, and although I wouldn't claim that it is 5 years ahead of any other product like Jobs did, I'd be willing to say it is a good 2 or 3 years ahead of the competition. The visual voicemailbox and iPod/Phone combo as well as the web browsing capabilities are no doubt pretty incredible, but I think what got the biggest reaction from the crowd was Steve sliding his finger across the touch screen to unlock it.

It seems like a simple concept. Let the device know you want to interact with it by giving it the simplest gesture. Nowadays every phone has a feature to lock and unlock the keypad to avoid keys being pushed when it isn't your intention to push them. This is usually some combination entered or the pressing of two buttons at once, something a person can do that the inside of a pocket can't. But if this had been a highlight of the Keynote the crowd reaction would have been one thing, instead it was just the beginning of his address. It was at this point however that people knew the iPhone was going to be something incredible, simply because they were demonstrating it was made to work the way people think a phone should.

Intuitive design is driving the next revolution in electronics. Look around today at what's working and what's not. GMail was rated the #2 product of 2005 by PC World in their top 100 products of the year behind Firefox and I think 2006 made GMail even better. Why does GMail work so well for so many people? Cause it does what you'd want email to do for you. Your emails are conversations, not redundant documents with endless numbers of >>>>>>'s, your space is nearly limitless, and you can find anything with Google's trademark searching capabilities. It's simple, it's clean, and it makes sense to casual users. Look at entertainment. The Nintendo Wii is doing phenomenally while the Playstation 3's sales figures are falling short. Although there is no denying that price is a big factor in this war of consoles, it seems to me that it could be not an issue of what you play but how you play it. Look at Wii Sports, a game where you find little spheres and ellipses floating around a baseball field without legs. Do you think anybody would have given this game more than 20 minutes on another console? Absolutely not. Yet on the Wii, a game like this can change the way you think and feel about your media. Girlfriends and parents that used to be unable to comprehend the hours their boyfriends and sons spent playing video games are now joining in. Why? Cause the interface makes sense. You swing, your character swings. It seems obvious, yet for the last 25 years we've found ourselves pressing buttons to represent these actions. Playstation 3 is banking on pretty graphics, Wii is relying on the idea that everybody's a gamer, just let it make sense for them. The public knows how they want to use a product... and usually they're right. Apple, Google, and Nintendo have learned that if they want to make their products ubiquitous they have to eliminate the learning curve of what they sell.

As computers make their way out of the dark ages and slowly evolve from their tree dwelling keyboard and mouse ancestors we'll see interfaces become what they're destined to be. Multitouch screens, like the one the iPhone is going to sport in June, are just be the beginning.



Perhaps Minority Report's futuristic depcition of touching huge displays to move information around isn't as far off as we may have thought. Where once the interfaces were developed to facilitate the use of software we'll soon be seeing a shift of software adapting to the new ways we're giving computers information.

-dp

Time for a New Blog

1,149 days and 771 posts ago I created a livejournal account. My commitment to my livejournal remained consistently strong for 3 years until recent months when my motivation to post began to fade. For years it afforded me a tremendous social tool, enabling me to maintain contact with a majority of my friends from the place I used to consider home, Memphis, TN, as we all spread throughout the country and began our respective higher educations. It was how I first came to know a blog, keeping in touch with friends at my convenience and sharing only what I chose with whom I chose to share it with.

Alot has happened in my life in these 1,149 days. Alot has happened to blogging as well. I write with a different purpose than I have written previously. I write now to make my feeble attempt of meaning something on the internet. I think there are things I've got say and things that may possibly even mean something to others, things others may want to hear. I want to give you the perspective of a college kid getting ready to make some of the most life altering decisions he'll ever make as he enters Big Boy Land.

TIME's person of the year for 2006 was you... and me, really. I saw the cheaply made reflective sheet they put out in an attempt to capture my face on cover and a mock up control bar of a YouTube video. I got a chance to read the article and found it somewhat inspiring.

"Who are these people? Seriously, who actually sits down after a long day at work and says, I'm not going to watch Lost tonight. I'm going to turn on my computer and make a movie starring my pet iguana? I'm going to mash up 50 Cent's vocals with Queen's instrumentals? I'm going to blog about my state of mind or the state of the nation or the steak-frites at the new bistro down the street? Who has that time and that energy and that passion?

The answer is, you do. And for seizing the reins of the global media, for founding and framing the new digital democracy, for working for nothing and beating the pros at their own game, TIME's Person of the Year for 2006 is you."

I feel that at 21 years my life is just beginning and that all my hard work and education have enabled me to put myself in a position where I can start giving back... something. I'm not sure what this will be, but I hope you'll enjoy it.

-dp