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Jon Kessler, The Web:

The Web is an immersive installation that addresses the significance of the Internet and mobile devices in our lives while simultaneously examining the role of the viewer.

Building art experiences around today’s tech behavior is getting more common. It’s worthy of a mockery since humans are communicating more than ever through status posts and creativity rather than face to face interaction.

This is in addition to all the do it yourself creativity, popularized by innovative Apple products.

The beauty of a well-crafted handwritten note is that it can show deeper investment and appreciation than a simple thank-you can.

Emails are like texts. So are Tweets and Facebook messages. Sure, we still spend time in thinking about what to say but instant messages cost nothing. They’re infinite.

Books, vinyl, handwritten notes: the value lies within their scarcity.

The mobile phone…

isn’t really mobile anymore, at least in its use.

People use their Smartphones in bed and on the couch just as much as they use it on the go. Mobile is ideal for reclining and is in many ways taking over the television as the primary screen.

The mobile phone is a companion device, untethered to the jean pocket. You probably have it in your hands wherever you are.

To be mobile is actually sedentary. More evidence below.

A lot of people know how to crank it out. A lot of people know how to copy others. Not a lot of people have an original idea. Having original ideas is what makes you successful, if you know how to implement them. It’s a rare thing because some people have the ideas and other people have the mechanics, but they can’t do both.

Francesca Zambello

You got to be a thinker and a doer. Experiment.

As Zuck says, “move fast and break things.”

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That’s the most exciting part.

Seer?

Tech Training

If you want to see the rate of technological adoption and get a sneak preview of the next big popular device or app to emerge, just ride the train.

The train is a good predictor of what’s hot now and what’s bubbling. Not surprisingly, what’s trending now is predominantly Apple and Android powered phone and tablet devices, with Facebook open at least 25% of the time. The majority of riders are generally consumed in social networking, gaming and email. Rarely is anyone reading a paper book; and when they do, it really stands out.

What’s forthcoming is the eradication of traditional computers and eReaders. MP3 players are already non-existent. Anything that can be consolidated within a smaller, more advanced touch device, will.

If people on the train never looked up, they certainly don’t anymore. Paying attention to surroundings and looking outside the windows is rare. Boredom is scarce. People are overly curious with what’s on their screens.

We are slowly becoming machines. Life feels automated, predicable and controlled despite a plethora of democratizing tools and social platforms that unleash creativity.

The train hints at merged digital and physical worlds, a state of constant connectedness. The only way to disconnect temporarily is when you have to get up and get off at your stop. Those are little moments of relief, a flashback to what was.

Learning on multiple formats

Learning today is chaotic. There’s always a new app for note-taking, Smart pens, and the inspirational Moleskine.

To me, both digital and paper worlds are all one stream of productivity. I typically use pen and paper to brainstorm and mind map. I love the freedom of just quickly dumping thoughts on paper and then finding a web of connections between them.

Once I establish an understanding of the big picture I start to synthesize those ideas onto my computer where they get styled and formalized so that others can comprehend them.

I also love the feeling of feeling of crumpling up that piece of paper, assuming it’s loose leaf, and tossing it. Knowing that it’s permanently digitized is gratifying.

There are moments of course when time is running short and I’ll just snap a picture of my notes and import that image into Evernote. It always helps to see how visually I came to a solution anyway.

The best notebook is the one you have with you. As a rule of thumb, you should use whatever tool is closest: pen, paper, iPhone, PC.

As previously noted, I generally like to create a hands on mess and then progress to clean it up in final digital format.

The 21st century working process requires flexibility and skill in different formats which if you’re open to it make you more a versatile learner and doer.

Smarter/more informative apps like Quora and Yelp are threatening Google search.

Mobile users use Google to search and discover more general things. They use apps as the primary source to get the quick, expert answer.

Even more, social networks like Facebook and Twitter are developing their own searchable archives. They will find a way to keep you within their environment to ensure you get what you’re looking for.

Google is still the best search tool. But what’s worrisome is that search accounts for 90% of the company’s yearly revenues. Advertisers may shift dollars to more specialized apps where people tend to look more.

I stopped using Instapaper. Early on, I relied on it as a space to store ideas and information I could draw from, but it quickly became my intellectual limbo: the unfortunate vault of forgotten stories and Twitter residue. When I had breathing space during the week to dip into something to read,…

Forward Simon Collison:

“I collect articles in Instapaper like pennies, and like pennies, I do nothing with them.”

Ditto.

“So distractible”

Bad memory. ADD. Impulsive. We’re all teenagers.

But we did it to ourselves. We allowed technology to replace our brain.

The good news is that we can redevelop neurons. We can take 10 minutes out of our day to improve our memories. We can deliberately unplug for important human moments. We can also just be bored.

For better or worse, the brain is elastic. The brain withers when we outsource learning and rebuilds when we rework it.

Use it or lose it. Succumbing to the latter makes us “so distractible.”

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Step 1: Power down

The paradox of the modern age. Make a deliberate effort to put it away.

“Dinner has become a table for three — my angel of a wife, me… and my iPhone.” - Jeremy Shure

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.

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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.

Bombtune

connecting the dots on screen

Bombtune

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The mobile phone…

Tech Training

Learning on multiple formats

“So distractible”

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