skandalon

In the morning I walked to the bank. I went to the automated teller machine to check my balance. I inserted my card, entered my secret code, tapped out my request. The figure on the screen roughly corresponded to my independent estimate, feebly arrived at after long searches through documents, tormented arithmetic. Waves of relief and gratitude flowed over me. The system had blessed my life. I felt its support and approval. The system hardware, the mainframe sitting in a locked room in some distant city. What a pleasing interaction. I sensed something of deep personal value, but not money, not that at all, had been authenticated and confirmed. A deranged person was escorted from the bank by two armed guards. The system was invisible, which made it all the more impressive, all the more disquieting to deal with. But we were in accord, at least for now. The networks, the circuits, the streams, the harmonies.

✖ Via White Noise by Don DeLillo, Penguin Books, [1985]1986, p. 46

White Noise won the National Book Award in 1985. Learn more about it on Wikipedia.

↳Share Mar 17 link notes reblogged from chatarra art communication technology machine computer network interaction design user interface money ATM DeLillo author book lost system

Kim Yoo-chul, 41, and his partner Choi Mi-sun, 25, fed their three-month-old baby only on visits home between 12-hour sessions at a neighbourhood internet cafe, where they were raising an avatar daughter in a Second-Life-style game called Prius online, police said. Leaving their real daughter at their home in a suburb of Seoul to fend for herself, the pair, who were unemployed, spent hours role-playing in the virtual reality game, which allows users to choose a career and friends, granting them offspring as a reward for passing a certain level. The pair became obsessed with nurturing their virtual daughter, called Anima, but neglected their real daughter, who was not named. Eventually, the couple returned home after one 12-hour session in September to find the child dead and called police. The pair were arrested on Friday after an autopsy showed that the baby died from prolonged malnutrition.

✖ Via Telegraph.co.uk: “Korean couple let baby starve to death while caring for virtual child” Mar. 5th, 2010

↳Share Mar 15 link notes technology communication kids parent family Internet addiction death existence computer user interface

A decade later, there’s a new kind of Tamagotchi out there. And it’s us. New health-monitoring tools let us pay close attention to our state of being, how much exercise we’re getting, how much sleep we’re getting — and they make it easy to set a goal and improve ourselves. In other words, they turn our health into something of a game. And the reward is better health and a better life. These devices are popping up everywhere: The FitBit is a paper-clip sized device that you can clip onto your belt to monitor cadence, calories and sleep. A genius little display shows a flower that grows the more you move, offering a brilliant bit of feedback. The Zeo sleep system uses a rigorous biometric brain analysis to measure overall sleep quality; you can also drill down into the numbers to ascertain how much time you’re spending in light sleep versus deep sleep (the deeper the better). The BodyMedia Fit uses a combination of sensor technology to track cadence and calories, as well as respiration and heartrate. And the Philips DirectLife gizmo turns your data into a personal coaching kit that helps you adjust targets and meet goals.

✖ Via Wired: “You Are a Tamagotchi: Turning Your Health Into a Game” by Thomas Goetz, March 11, 2010

“Thomas Goetz is the executive editor of Wired magazine and author of the new book The Decision Tree: Taking Control of Your Health in the New Era of Personalized Medicine. As part of the reporting for the book, he had his genome scanned, was screened for more than a dozen diseases, and has tracked his sleep, blood pressure, weight, calories and oodles of other metrics. He holds a masters of public health from UC Berkeley.” (more)

↳Share Mar 14 link notes reblogged from Leftovers technology communication information health body human experience feedback machine interface user

I’ve been watching with bemused interest as US geeks (apparently 120.000 of them, although I’d take any initial figures with a large grain of salt if I were you) rushed to pre-order their iPads and, deprived of the thrill of actually using it until it arrives, gushed forth on the details of their purchase and reasons thereof as if they were boasting about the pedigree of a puppy that is yet to be weaned and handed to them in a little basket.

✖ Via The Tao of Mac: “Undercurrent” Mar. 13th, 2010

The Tao of Mac is Rui Carmo’s blog:

“I’m someone with a Systems Engineering degree, a decade and a half of overexposure to the Internet, and (horror of horrors to the uninitiated), Marketing experience – as well as social graces that allow me to mediate between geeks and “regular” folk. I’ve pretty much done it all where it comes to the telco world, having been immersed in Wi-Fi, 3G (UMTS) and IP-related stuff at a major GSM operator for several years (ten, actually, going on eleven at the time of this writing).”(more)

↳Share Mar 13 link notes technology communication addiction iPad mobile computer machine interaction user interface

My mother-in-law walked in the door the day of the keynote and the first thing out of her mouth was “Did you see that new Apple iPad? That looks like it would work for me. Would that work for me?” I was utterly flabbergasted. She NEVER talks about computers or technology. She tolerates them at best. Her attitude is typical of most baby boomers I’ve talked to regarding computers. She wants to benefit from them but is frustrated by the wall she must climb in order to do so. She’s learned how to use email and a couple of other things on the Internet and that’s about it. Her bringing up the iPad was amazing for two reasons. First, someone in her office (she works with other ‘boomers) found out about it within hours of the keynote and shared it with her. That Apple news warranted attention from baby boomers at all is significant. That she then held her interest long enough to tell me at the end of the day is equally significant. After learning a little more information about it, she has decided that she wants an iPad. It actually borders on technolust.

✖ Via northtemple: “On iPads, Grandmas and Game-changing” by Rob Foster, Feb. 2, 2010

First discovered via The Daring Fireball.

↳Share Feb 03 link notes technology user computer interface touch iPad Apple

technology communication experience ipad apple innovation sense interaction interface intelligence community epistemology extension meida kids reblog

✖ Via I’m Not Actually a Geek : “Apple iPad and the Radical Innovation of Meaning” by Hutch Carpenter, Feb. 2, 2010

“OK, if iPad is innovating meaning even more than it is technology, what meaning might that be? Here’s my best guess:

iPad is tapping into an emerging dynamic of a more interactive, tactile experience with digital technology and information. These interactions make technology less of an interface, and more of an extension of ourselves and our environment.

The tweets above are a couple that show the natural way children engage with technology. Given the iPhone experience, they turn around and want to apply it to other devices. Buttons on devices, our traditional form of interaction, are divorced from the screen. They provide a measure of distance from the digital experience.

Touch, however, represents a new level of intimacy in the digital experience. In technology terms, it’s just an alternative form of interface. Touch, mouse, tab, whatever. But touch is a vital human sense, and a core part of experience. It’s how we interact with others, how we shop, experience textures and so much more.”

About Hutch Carpenter:

“I am the VP of Product for Spigit. Spigit helps companies manage innovation, providing idea management and prediction market software for enterprises. The goal is enable easy capture of ideas by employees, customers and partners, and convert the most promising to innovative initiatives. Spigit recently received a $10 million equity investment from Warburg Pincus.” (more)

↳Share Feb 02 link notes reblogged from infoneer pulse technology communication experience iPad Apple innovation sense interaction interface intelligence community epistemology extension meida kids

technology communication text write pen computer mobile_device input test statistics evolution interface keyboard

✖ Via Daring Fireball: Pen vs. Keyboard vs. Newton vs. Graffiti vs. Treo vs. iPhone

“Phil Gyford time-tested six different methods of writing the same 221-word passage: pen-and-paper, Newton MessagePad 2100, Palm Vx Graffiti, Palm Treo hardware keyboard, iPhone 3G software keyboard, and a full-size MacBook keyboard.”

About Phil Gyford:

“I am mostly focused on thinking about, designing, programming and running websites. I work freelance and am currently thinking about: how aggregation should work on personal websites; how to learn everything; and improvisation via email.” (read more)

↳Share Jan 21 link notes technology communication text write pen computer mobile device input test statistics evolution interface keyboard

Tumblr vs. Posterous

Peg on Tech: “Why Tumblr is kicking Posterous’s ass”, Jan 19th, 2010

“How come [Posterous is] eating dust from a small startup started by a high school dropout? The answer is as easy as it is counter-intuitive: Tumblr is a New York company and Posterous is a Silicon Valley company. Or, to put it another way: Posterous is an engineered product, while Tumblr is a designed product.” (read more)

Chart by Compete:

About Peg on Tech:

“Hi! My name is Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry, a.k.a. PEG, I’m a Paris-based entrepreneur and the curator of the Paris [Startup Digest]. I have written about these issues for The Business Insider, write about right-of-center politics at The American Scene and have written about the intersection of technology and politics at techPresident. This is my daily blog on issues at the intersection of technology, entrepreneurship and business in general. I post more frequently on Twitter and Tumblr, where you should definitely follow me.”

↳Share Jan 20 link notes reblogged from Innovation is Dead technology communication design sofware user interface Tumblr statistics startup

technology art communication screen cartoon illustration illustrator artist computer interface

✖ Via

The Gazette, August 29th, 2009, G11.

↳Share Oct 21 link notes technology art communication screen cartoon illustration illustrator artist computer interface