miekd

Avidly written past 2AM …

  • On the iPad …

    Posted on in Miscellaneous

    Almost two weeks back, Apple introduced the iPad. Some folks were skeptical but joyful, others frantically raging. Much has been written on the premise that the iPad is “just a bigger iPhone / iPod touch”, more has been written about its lack of Flash. Here are a few articles that struck home with me:

    The Operating System

    Many have backlashed about the fact that the iPad does not offer full-blown OS X, and this apparently renders the device fairly useless. The reality is that the iPad will not be positioned as a device for a desktop OS. This is good, because desktop OS X was not designed with touch in mind. Re-designing OS X towards the iPad would mean a re-design of the OS for a more mobile device. Oh wait…

    With what most of us currently know, it is easy to say it is an oversized iPhone, because it has a home button and a springboard. Yet I think it is probably a safer bet to say that it is going to be the User Experience of the iPhone, on steroids.

    The Social Component

    These steroids are going to be the game changer. Apart from snappiness and sassiness, apart from bringing along New World computing, (of which I am a firm believer, courtesy of the wise Steven Frank) in this task-centric, secure and user-friendly environment, I believe the social component will be an equally important one.

    In current times, if you use a computer – be it a desktop or a laptop – you put up walls. Even if you use it for leisure, when sitting around with friends, passing along a netbook (god forbid) to show each other cool YouTube videos; the person using it at a certain time loses social touch with the group, even if it is just for half a minute. Desktops, laptops and phones have this effect in a social situation, because they are single-user oriented.

    The iPad has the astonishing potential to be used in multi-user, real-life, social situations. For example – and this is the biggest possible open door to kick in – board games. Next to that, it could also make the earlier example of sharing interesting and funny stuff more social. And – best of all – it will allow people to collaborate next to each other on a couch (IKEA Home Planner, anyone?), around a table at a coffee shop, at a conference, you name it.

    Mobile phones have become ubiquitous in the past ten years. Smartphone sales are rising at a blazing speed. These devices have been integrated into our everyday life, to the extent that most of us do not even see them as a personal computer, which they essentially are. I believe it will only take a small number of years for devices like the iPad to be integrated into our daily life at the same level smartphones currently are.

    And I am looking forward to it.

  • Headphones On

    Posted on in Miscellaneous

    As a designer it is important to create one or more situations in which you can properly flourish your train of thought. For me personally this is important, since my concentration- and attention span is on a nano-level. The best ways I can work is either in a very crowded coffee shop – ie. a steady flow of noise – or with certain kinds of music, mostly through headphones. In the past decade I have owned quite a few headphones, all for various reasons.

    This post is therefore merely from experiencing my choices, therefore much of the mentioned headphones will have been owned by myself. The two main situations I identify are at the office and at home.

    AKG K701 Headphones

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  • #belgcamp; Evening One

    Posted on in Web

    Last friday I attended part of the first day of #belgcamp, meeting up with all of them in the Kosmopol in Leuven, Belgium. Although I did not attend the whole of #belgcamp, here’s a quick review of the evening.

    Kosmopol

    Same as with the Twiist after-party, the Kosmopol in Leuven was the place to be for webgeekery. And it serves itself well for this. The Kosmopol has a kind of back room – they probably use for reserved parties – which serves a group of web geeks well. Tim’s tweet was a good confirmation of this fact.

    Photo of David, Sam and others at #belgcamp

    Conversation & Crafting

    If there is something that is never lacking at a web geek gathering, it is conversation. From small talk to deep conversations on standards, and the philosophies behind our industry. And a gathering with designers is never short of crafting. Place mats were used for visualization as well as the creation of an envelope, a wax seal was crafted with a nearby candle and that is only the parts I’ve attended.

    Vehicle Inefficience

    That is probably the neatest way of saying: “It took me more than 30 minutes to find a parking spot, and when I ran out to fill the meter, my car had been towed.” Never a dull evening, right? Though – apart from the fine – it wasn’t an awful experience after all. The local police of Leuven were polite, fast and even gave me a ride to the car depot. And a Gowalla pin was procured, of course.

    For the short time that I have attended #belgcamp, I have loved it. And – looking at the twitter feed – it was amazing all around. This again goes to show that the web designer and -developer folk are one of the greatest kinds of people to be around. Tim, Paddy and Dave, I salute you!

  • The Education Tablet

    Posted on in Theories

    Two hours ago I had a thought – and wrote a series of tweets – about the impact of a, possible, Apple Tablet on the educational environment. Seconds later I found myself closing my eyes and envisioning my old elementary school classroom, with one big difference: everyone had an Apple Tablet.

    Bear with me here…

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