Bill Moggridge Would’ve Been 70 Today: The Designer of the First Laptop on Human-Centered Design | Brain Pickings
Today is Bill Moggridge’s birthday. He would have been 70. Don’t know who he is? He’s the inventor of the first laptop, championed interaction design and co-founded IDEO among other things. In short, he’s a complete bad ass!!!
Maria Popova wrote a great article on him today which is basically a summary of an interview Bill gave for Debbie Millmans latest book, Brand Thinking and Other Noble Pursuits. I highly recommend this book to everyone!
The article takes the best of the interview and strings it together to paint a very clear picture of Bill’s philosophy and wisdom.
I’ve pulled this quote specifically because I feel it’s important to remember that we live and breath design and creativity everyday and our clients don’t. Helping them learn and understand design better will benefit everyone in the relationship and it’s something we all can do.
“I don’t think that anyone has really told them what design is. It doesn’t occur to most people that everything is designed — that every building and everything they touch in the world is designed. Even foods are designed now.
[…]… So in the process of helping people understand this, making them more aware of the fact that the world around us is something that somebody has control of, perhaps they can feel some sense of control too. That’s a nice ambition.”
Here is the audio of the interview if you don’t have the time to read the article.
82nd & Fifth | The Metropolitan Museum of Art
This amazing experience – 82nd and Fifth – shows how to stay relevant as a museum in age of viewing everything through your device of choice. It’s also an amazing way to bring one the best museums in the world to those who can’t get to NYC in person!
The site is going to present 100 pieces of art through the eyes of a curator. Each curated story is brought to life utilizing the best digital tech has to offer. From 360 rotating views to side-by-side detail comparisons to zoom-in-to-details the site allows you to experience the art almost although you were at the museum looking at.
In short, ITS BRILLIANT!
Shirky: ‘We are indeed less willing to agree on what constitutes truth’ | Poynter.
When we all have a voice that’s accessible 24/7, we begin to learn that agreement is hard to find.
The transparency brought about by the internet is a double edged sword. On the one hand it has brought unlimited information to our finger tips, very positive in terms of increasing knowledge. On the other hand it has brought unlimited information to our finger tips allowing us to see just how different our views on truth and fact are.
As Clay Shirky says in this article, “there seems to be less respect for consensus because there is less respect for consensus. This change is not good or bad per se — it has simply made agreement a scarcer commodity across all issues of public interest. The erosion of controls on public speech have enabled Birthers to make their accusations against the President public; it also allows newly-emboldened groups — feminists, atheists, Muslims, Mormons — to press their issues in public, in opposition to traditional public beliefs, a process similar to gay rights post-Stonewall, but now on a faster and more national scale.”
via Shirky: ‘We are indeed less willing to agree on what constitutes truth’ | Poynter..
How the Internet is Shaping Our “Global Brain” – Tiffany Shlain – Harvard Business Review
“Both a young child’s brain and our young, global Internet brain are in highly creative, experimental, innovative states of rapid development — just waiting to make connections. So, here’s a question for the 21st century: How do we help shape both of these young, rapidly growing networks to set a course for a better future?”
The opportunity and responsibility we, as a global society, have to create any future we want is pretty amazing!
via How the Internet is Shaping Our “Global Brain” – Tiffany Shlain – Harvard Business Review.
Trust Me, I’m Lying: Why Sites Like Gawker Manipulate You
A new book, Trust Me, I’m Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator, chronicling the history and incentives of media. Essentially, media is the business of making money through advertising. In order to get that advertising they need circulation. In order to get circulation they need to get our attention. That’s where it all goes down hill, reporters are to cover the news when it’s there and make it up when it’s not.
A brief history of media from the book.
The Party Press: The earliest form of news was one-stop-shop. The editor, publisher, writer and printer was the same person. His service was to communicate ideas and information about important issues and his dedication was to the political part of the town.
The Yellow Press: 1833 marked the first evolution of media, paying for the news. This started the iconic “read all about it” selling on the street corner.
The Modern Stable Press: The New York Times, “All the News That’s Fit to Print” mission ushered in quality news for low costs through subscription models.
À la Carte Press: It’s no longer about selling a package of new. Every story is its own mini paper being sold in a virtual version of the “read all about it” street corner model from the 1830’s.
The write up on Farnam Street is more in depth than the summary above and also cites related books on the topic.
Book Recommendations from Nassim Taleb
Impressive book list from Nassim Taleb ranging from Economics to philosophy to eating.