without thought

Change time

I was made aware of Nokia’s new concept phone, Morph yesterday. A quick login to the Guardian site will give you a very good idea of where they’re planning to go with this. Last October I was down in Bournemouth University, along with other class mates, at a talk given by Senior Design Manager Nicola Ralston. Ralston did, it seemed, hint at a new direction for Nokia, convinced that the future of design would become multidisciplinary (she’s not alone there). But it also became apparent that who Nokia are truly competing with now is of course Apple. With the new Apple iPhone becoming the object of fetish last year, it’ll be interesting to see what Nokia fights back with and if the Morph is any indication of what they have bubbling over in the lab, Apple may have a fight on their hands. The design of the phone makes constant reference to organic type materials: It boasts a self cleaning surface akin to the structures found in ‘nanoflowers’ ; ‘Using the same principle behind spider silk’ Nokia hope to created a phone that is more malleable; ‘Nanotechnology holds out the possibility that the surface of a device will become a natural source of energy via a covering of “Nanograss” structures that harvest solar power’ and lastly ‘Further, utilization of biodegradable materials might make production and recycling of devices easier and ecologically friendly.’ (which is what the future is all about). This all taken from the Nokia site. Taking the fight to Apple, Nokia are promising an exciting fusion of high hi-tech properties combined with sustainable organic features (please check up on my sister Blog ‘The Bottom Bracket’ for more info like this). However, it’s worth pointing out that this is still a battle of the brands, not technology. Apple, already strongly positioned as a life style commodity, may have upper hand over Nokia who’s brand currently fails to evince enough warmth and love. That said, it’s possible that a product like this, if it were ever to be realized, might well help Nokia to migrate into premier position and Apple, who so far have struggled with sustainable issues, might well be left behind in the fight for hearts and minds. (thanks to Neil Glen)

Change design

Yesterday I was at the Change Design symposium in my college, Bath Spa. It was a day that served to generate debate regarding ethical and sustainable issues. Speakers included John Thackara, Sheila Levrant de Bretteville, Rupert Bassett, Karen Blincoe and husband Mervyn Kurlansky. The day also featured discussion groups, enabling students to take part in conversations regarding design education, sustainability and the role of the designer in the community. Particularly in the vein of what I have been exploring in this Blog, John Thackara gave a very concise talk on collaborative innovation, presenting several projects undertaken as part of dott07. Both Thackara and Shiela Levrant helped me to understand more about how my thinking on design has been changing over the last six months. Both speakers drew attention to the importance of shutting up and listening more; especially in relation to their involvement with community work.

The conclusions of the symposium and the discussion groups were varied but my own general feelings and what I feel took away from it was that in the future Designers will need to take on more social responsibility, adopt better leadership skills (not blaming unethical decision making on clients), and become more open to cross collaboration with a variety of different disciplines that (in the words of Karen Blincoe) could mean agencies employing a social anthropologists and chemists as part of its design team.

One thing did capture my attention though and that was the Imperio Armani label on the back of Mervyn Kurlansky’s jeans. But as he said later, none of us are perfect; or as American humourist Don Marquis put it

“A hypocrite is a person who–but who isn’t?”

More information can be found on the event at changedesign.info

Watt’s next?

2008 looks set to be the year of the ‘We’. Today, Tech Crunch announced the launch of a new online product called Kluster. Kluster is designed to help companies take advantage of a sea of on-line talent and may have a solution to one of the chief concerns bugging democratization; ‘What’s in it for me?’. Kluster appears to have an answer to that quandary with a currency system referred to as ‘Watts’. Tech Crunch quotes CEO Ben Kaufman

“Our Watt system is like a currency. You get a certain amount of Watts. As you do more things you get more Watts. Instead of voting on ideas, you invest your Watts in concepts you like.”

So if this system works, Kaufman’s company may well be the first to successfully apply capitalism to what (think ‘Open Source’) has generally been described as a socialist model. Kluster is due to be Beta tested at the this weeks Ted conference. The conference, which I’m told is quite exclusive, explores ‘ideas worth spreading’ and it will be very interesting to hear how the concept behind Kaufman’s Kluster gets received. Seemingly Kaufman will be talking at the conference so lets hope we can look forward to coverage of those talks on Teds site in the next week or two. In the meantime a quick glance at the comments on the Tech Crunch article are none too encouraging but as Don Tapscott points out on Google talks (_04), every revolution has its fair share of Luddites. (Thanks to Imelda for putting me wide to this story).

Grail hunting

Found an interesting piece on UGC or user generated content. On the blog Publishing 2.0 Scott Karp writes a pretty scathing piece on an Apple viral under the title The User Generated Content Myth. The story behind this viral is that it was the generated content of a Leeds University student named Nick Haley. Haley has, it seems to me at a glance, done a pretty good job of remixing a pre-existing iphone commercial; possibly not as an homage as Karp so skillfully points out but in a bid to gain recognition. Karp goes onto say however

“Pretty slick, huh? Is it just me, or does something about this smack of LonelyGirl15 — just a bit too “authentic” to be believable? Nick got “discovered” by Apple execs after the video had only been viewed a couple thousand times — hardly a viral hit by YouTube standards.”

Well Mr.Karp, it so happens that there is a lot of talent up in that city of Leeds and although I agree with you to a point I don’t think it’s beyond the realms of possibility that Haley made it. What I am reflecting on right now however is something I wrote about in my _07 post, ‘Catch fire’. In this era of remix and remixability the kids are always editing, re-editing, remixing etc. but you would wonder why someone would waste their time adding to something that is already out there? Perhaps Haley felt that the band CSS suited the Apple advert better? Surely CSS would have something to say about it? Or do they see that it works in their favor if a million and a half people are exposed to them? The driving force behind any UGC , as Chris Anderson has argued so well in his book The Long Tail, IS recognition. UGC could possibly be the new graffiti. Some kids dedicate hours of their lives to throw ups or tags whilst others create content for the web.

It’s a very confused world out there in 2.0 land. I can’t wait to read about the aftermath. Personally, I’m starting to develop things called opinions. Not all of it CAN be good, of course but more crucially (I was having this conversation with my tutor last week) not all of it can be true. The point is that veracity and 2.0 don’t always see eye to eye. I have concluded that we are entering an era where the word ‘truth’ needs careful re-evaluation. Mythologist Joseph Campbell spoke my mind on the subject when I read this

“Mythology is not a lie. Mythology is poetry, it is metaphorical. It has been well said that mythology is the penultimate truth — penultimate because the ultimate cannot be put into words. It is beyond words, beyond images. Mythology pitches the mind beyond that rim, to what can be known but not told.”

Peel slowly and see

Stefan Sagmeister makes a lot of the rest of graphic design look impudent. His ability to challenge and question viewers is unrivaled. In a new show running in New York’s Deitch Projects (thousands of miles away from me damn it!) Sagmeister has created something both new and interactive, calling on public participation. If you’ve never come across his work before you’re in for a treat. His insights are both whimsical and intelligent. Find him contributing to the New York Times Blog ‘themoments” , as he tells of being stood up by Lou Reed, his taste for Swiss Chocolate and the ever ripening bananas for the above piece “Self-confidence Produces Fine Results”.

“As they ripen further, the typography (as well as the self-confidence) disappears only to possibly, hopefully come back again when the formerly yellow bananas turn brown.”

I love those non thoughts…

Let’s push things forward

More reports on the fruits of mass collaboration (continuing with the theme of bikes). I happen to own a Specialized mountain bike and I happen to love it. I bought it over ten years ago when I was a bike messenger and I’ve held onto it ever since. The west coast bike manufacturer have teamed up with Google and Goodby, Silverstein & Partners to launch their ‘Innovate or Die Pedal-Powered Machine Contest’. The contest appears to have been a success. According to the feedback on Specialized website

“In a matter of three months, contestants poured in from across the globe, ranging from one-time inventors to students at prestigious universities like MIT. Of the more than 100 qualified entries, ‘Aquaduct: Mobile Filtration Vehicle’ won based on environmental impact, creativity and design.”

And the winner is the Aquaduct, a bike that provides a solution for carrying water in developing nations. But (in my most ideal of minds) I would like to think that there was more than one winner in this contest. Even a brief look at all the other entries on YouTube will give you an insight into how much effort other contestants put into solving issues using mass peddle power.

Free wheelin’

There I was, thinking very hard about what sort of territory to aim for with the New Product Development module in my course and whamo! It hit me, bikes! Bikes and bike culture really lends its self to the open source ideology. Their interchangeable and recyclable nature makes them a suitable topic for some of the thinking I’ve been developing. This site here worldbike.org is committed to the cause of developing bikes not only as sustainable transport but for countries where the bike is still one of the most valuable forms of transport available (Amen). We shall see whether I settle on this area as a final project or if I flit off into some other area but in the meantime I thought I’d post this whilst my cognitive gears are still spinning.

Finding space

PHD student Danah Boyd has mostly been hanging out with teenagers in the last year, developing a better understanding of how they interact using the internet. She presents us with a very balanced and rational view on the importance of social networking sites which, by her own admission, is kind of interesting and not at the same time. In this piece, she dispels the idea that kids these days are only forming false relationships with people they’ve never met before. Instead social networking sites such as Facebook and Myspace, represent the new found shopping mall or local green space. When I was a teenager, adults were always worried about where their kids were hanging out. Now that they know, they’re concerned with who they’re hanging out with. One thing is for sure, the internet hasn’t made being a teenager any easier.

Problem Playground

Honda’s new TV commercial continues with themes concerning the advantages of mass collaboration and problem solving. The moral of the story; get enough people involved and interested in tackling a problem and problem solved. American based Innocentive makes this its business, farming out problems to ’solvers’ on behalf of its clients (or seekers). You can hear more about Innocentive on the BBC Radio 4 show ‘Eureka Democracy’.

V for Anonymous

The protestors in the image above are wearing masks seen in the Movie adaption of Allen Moore’s book ‘V for Vendetta’. They are also members of the anti-Scientologist group ‘Anonymous’. Someone I know had already forwarded me on the Anonymous video on YouTube; which I found to be very sinister. But after watching it I realised that this is possibly an historic first; open source protest. It’s pretty obvious what the manifesto is driving at. Scientologists (who have allegedly intimidated investigating journalists like John Sweeney and Paulette Cooper) may find stiff opposition once they are presented with faceless (or in this case) masked protagonists as, after all, “Ideas are bullet proof”. Anonymous has successfully mobilised itself by spreading word over the internet on sites such as YouTube and Facebook. I was particularly struck by this quote taken from a 24 year old music student in a Boston Globe article .

“It’s a bunch of people. It’s a convenient bubble to form under. There’s no leader.”

Leaderless terrorism, peaceful or otherwise, is of course nothing new considering the aftermath of 2001. I’m keen to read the book The Starfish and the Spider which discusses very similar concepts (now might be the time) and I’m also keen to watch this story of passive terrorism unfolding; how will the group behave without a leader? will the group instinctively act as one? Will the church of Scientology fight back? What sorts of challenges will face either side? I think I will have to start an “Anon Watch”. The imagery really reminds me of an Aphex Twin video.

Also check out this Newsweek article.