Writings
1-15 of 122 in Opinions
Rethinking the Traditional Convention Booth at MIX105
by Thomas Lewis on Mar 17, 2010 in Events
At our MIX10 conference for web developers and designers, the MIX Online community team (us) was given an opportunity to display a booth in The Commons. At first, we politely declined. The Unbearable Lameness of Convention Booths There were a few reasons why I was Read More…
Bass-ackwards10
by Tim Aidlin on Mar 09, 2010 in Process
Which comes first, the problem or the solution? IMHO, obviously the problem. So why do we so often develop technology solutions and then find a problem for them to solve? Read More…
Cheers to Saying No20
by Tim Aidlin on Feb 22, 2010 in Web Culture
The other day I was out having a pint with a web-designer friend of mine, and she relayed a conversation with a client she'd had that day. I had to chuckle a little. “So, Client X called me today, and she’d like to do a Read More…
Springing Out of Nowhere2
by Hans Hugli on Feb 12, 2010 in Web Culture
Charles H. Duell, Commissioner of the US Patent Office, said this in 1899: “Everything that can be invented has already been invented.” Poor Charles probably took his misquote to the grave. Read More…
Design for tables3
by Tim Aidlin on Feb 08, 2010 in Design
Years ago, around the time of MIX06, I had a great conversation with a friend who was working on a design for the Microsoft Surface. He said he had to basically re-learn user interface design during the process, since Surface’s screen presented a totally new user Read More…
I Can Haz Data Visualization?8
by Thomas Lewis on Feb 04, 2010 in News
Everybody loves good data visualization. The New York Times has been especially good at using data visualization to demonstrate the power of information visualization as a communication tool. We thought the topic was intriguing enough to create a lab about it. As you may know, we have a Read More…
Ninja Coders and Despot Designers: Game Over17
by Joshua Allen on Feb 01, 2010 in Web Culture
Our industry has just been changed forever. Many have predicted that this day would come, and it finally has -- design has irreversibly supplanted development as the center of gravity in software projects. OK, so maybe that's a bit dramatic. The revolution has taken longer than a day, Read More…
Kindle vs. iPad vs. Weimaraner21
by Nishant Kothary on Jan 29, 2010 in Web Culture
The iPad's true contender isn't the Kindle or the netbook as the pundits would have you believe. It's the Weimaraner. Read More…
Transparency Yields Better Results3
by Tim Aidlin on Jan 27, 2010 in Process
How do you get feedback on your projects? Do you do exhaustive user-testing before releasing a project to market, or trust your gut that you know you’ve made the right decisions? How does fear of losing your I.P. influence your decisions? Read More…
HTML5 Video: You'll Shoot Your Eye Out!24
by Joshua Allen on Jan 25, 2010 in Web Culture
A few months ago, we shipped our cross-browser, cross-platform implementation of the HTML5 video tag, using the H.264 codec. In the past week, YouTube and Vimeo announced their support for HTML5 video tag, also using H.264. All good deeds, but unfortunately no good deed goes unpunished. Now we see Read More…
What’s So Great About Contrarians, Anyway?4
by Joshua Allen on Jan 20, 2010 in Web Culture
I'll admit it: I'm a sucker for contrarians. It's great to have a bunch of knowledge, but it's always the stuff you don't know, the stuff that contradicts your common sense, that kills you. That’s what contrarians are great for—drawing out the "unknown unknowns" that wreak havoc on life. Read More…
Vendor-led Conferences: Marketing in Sheep’s Clothing?10
by Thomas Lewis on Jan 18, 2010 in Events
Can a vendor conference be anything more than a self-indulgent marketing campaign? Read More…
2009: The Year the Web Coalesced?1
by Hans Hugli on Jan 16, 2010 in Web Culture
The web has its flaws and shortcomings, and it’s easy to rant and mumble about all that’s wrong. But here, I’m going resist the urge to scrutinize and instead reflect on all the good things the webosphere has brought us in the recent past. Read More…
Government 2.0: Activist Paradise, or Treading on the Poor?7
by Joshua Allen on Jan 11, 2010 in Web Culture
This growing crescendo of optimism about technology-enabled citizenry has me feeling a bit uneasy. I don't think it's as innocuous as people want to believe, and I see a couple of problems down the road. As we get swept up in our enthusiasm for the "Government 2.0" initiatives and play the hero in our little echo chambers, I hope we don't lose sight of the real challenges here. Read More…
Dear Twitter10
by Nishant Kothary on Jan 08, 2010 in Web Culture
I've been thinking about this for some time and I think it's time we talk, Twitter. Read More…
