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Step 1: Power down
These days, consumers are more likely to send a quick text and check their Facebook feed than to read a magazine or develop a momentary craving for the gum or candy on display.“
From impulse purchases to compulsive checkers. It’s all consumption anyway.
That’s one way to charge up. on Flickr.
Believe it or not this guy had taken the cords from the ceiling at Grand Central to recharge his phone.
Never looking up. Always on.
The more contained, or even constrained, a platform feels, the more it can contribute to people feeling less overwhelmed
If you want to feel less overwhelmed consuming news, read it on your iPhone. Having multiple tabs open on the desktop browser is unnecessarily stressful.
For the best constrained reading experience, try reading on the Kindle. The browser experience sucks. But that’s intended; the focus is purely on the reading.
And so the volume has incrementally risen, the imbecilic din encroaching on one place after another — mass transit, waiting rooms, theaters, museums, the library — until this last bastion of civility and calm, the Quiet Car, has become the battlefield where we quiet ones, our backs forced to the wall, finally hold our ground.
It’s amazing that in today’s digital age you’d think that the consumption on Internet devices would quiet people down. Instead, it’s made people ignorant and blind to the Quiet Car, the only bastion of public serenity we have left.
Like many Americans, I get my news on just about everything online, primarily through RSS feeds and social networks on my mobile.
Kindles, iPads, and iPhones are killing off print. TV will simply morph into an Internet-connected entertainment center. Internet ready cars will create a new radio.
Print, TV, and radio aren’t dying; the old formats that support them are.
Images speak louder than words.
As you can see in the last three graphs below, mobile users are spending more time on Instagram than Twitter.
38% of the images on Twitter are also images, predominantly Instagram.
Instagram IS the new status update.
Changing Environments in a Mobile World
If you can’t think clearly, reconsider your environment. Instead of working sitting down, try working standing up. Instead of working at home, try working in a more communal environment like a coffees shop. You don’t need to be social. The idea is to stimulate the mind and body with something new.
There are some things you can’t change, such as where you sit in the office. But you can change the images and stickies in your cube, or the inspirational quotes surrounding your desk. Cleaning clutter off your desk can also liberate the mind.
Locations determine particular actions. Your home desk may be where you devote time to writing. The gym is where you workout. The bar is where you drink beer. The TV room is where you watch TV. But your attention is weak because you’re likely to have a mobile phone by you.
The mobile puts a dent in distraction free environments. There’s always a new text or tweet, a new track to listen to, or a new note to attend to. Your attention can shift to the unimportant in seconds. You may discover that minutes to hours later you’re still distracted.
Your biggest challenge today is finding professional and personal environments where you can be productive and happy. Change the environment when you get bored or try something completely new. But consider leaving your phone at home.
No More Pencil Sharpeners: Writing Fragmentation in the Digital Age
Growing up the pencil was always used for math and the pen for just about everything else. The reasoning was simple: you were more likely to make a mistake. Sometimes we took tests without calculators, completely smearing the scrap paper.
Pencils also required sharpening. Students would go up to the front of the class and shave their pencil as if they were giving it a haircut. Some kids made the end tips knife sharp, others left the pencil head a bit rounder.
The pen relieved much of the pain that came from scrawling with pencil. The pen’s tip was smoother and made writing rhythmic. When we ran out of ink, we simply found a replacement pen.
Then came the computer. Why go through the trouble of writing something down that will need to be reproduced on the computer? Nevertheless, students still vacillated between handwriting and typing. Some people thought better with pen and paper.
But then came the touch screen mobile and tablet, obviating the need for penmanship. Instant mobile communications replaced handwriting and grammar. “You’re” is now “ur” and it’s always lowercase, even at the beginning of a sentence.
Handwriting will go extinct in about a decade unless the pen goes digital. Word on the street is that Apple is creating a stylus, recreating the handwriting experience on a digital screen.
Taking notes with existing stylus models is currently a challenge. Our digital writing bleeds because can’t keep our wrist and pen on the page at the same time.
From pencil, pen, Internet-less keyboard, to the hyper connected keyboard of mobile, to the potential reemergence of utensil writing with the digital stylus, writing has been fragmented. And don’t think that’s the end of it. With Siri, you may not have to write anything at all. #dictation
Tech Crunched
We’re rightfully obsessed with the mobile phone because it’s a content media and communications device.
Losing or breaking our phone is like losing our book reader, music and movie player all in one.
Just wait until the phone becomes our wallet too. We’ll check our pockets compulsively.
Still, the more consolidated the devices the better. I remember sticking my game boy, cd player, camera, and computer all in one bag. My parents thought my back was going to break.
Consolidation and instant access create a world of endless entertainment.
I’ve always got something to do. Maybe one day I’ll get sick of it.
Twitter Ruins Surprises
The Grammys made it clear last night that time zones in the Twitter world don’t exist.
Live broadcasts should be shown across the world at the same time. And on the Internet.
Everything happens right now, right now.
All people want is access. Throw all the nasty ads in there you want. Just don’t block the main screen.
Responsive Design (By Wilson Miner)
Wilson Miner - When We Build from Build on Vimeo. Art gives meaning to empty space. Humans are tool builders that create the world they want to live in. New creations, or mediums, create completely different environments. Sometimes design is clearly expressed to the creator yet invisibile. As Wilson notes in his presentation, ”You perceive the energy of color even when you don’t see anything.” Today’s developments spread much faster than previous technologies. YouTube took less than 6 months to reach 50 million people, the iPhone took less than 3 years. Radio took 40 years. What you think is cool right now will be arcane tomorrow. Quotes featured in the video:
The artist is always a jump ahead of technology. - Marshall McLuhan We shape our tools and thereafter our tools shape us. - Marshall McLuhan The computer is the most remarkable tool that we’ve ever come up with. And it’s the equivalent of bicycles for our minds. - Steve Jobs When we build, let us think that we build forever. - Josh Ruskin
The medium is the message.
External Apps like Instagram
When they want to take a photo, they open Instagram, not the camera application.Cheers to Fred for calling this out. I used to take two or three shots, go back into my photo library and then select the best photo for Instagram. However, the last three weeks I’ve gone right into the Instagram and taken the picture directly. It saves time and feels more natural. Point , shoot, and share. Download the new version 2.1 and check out the Lux feature. Almost too obvious to point out but also note that use of external apps over iOS native apps is a boon for Apple which earned 72% of its revenues from iPhone and iPad sales last quarter.
Facebook Credits, The Way Social Buyers Check Out
Tweeted this earlier this morning: And then read this:
74 percent of social media users indicate that, given the option, they wouldn’t use virtual currency, such as Bitcoin or Facebook Credits to pay for a purchase made on a social media site; and (link)It’s just a matter of time.
