As the summer is coming to a close, I’ve finished reading two books that I’ve been chipping away at since the beginning. One is Smart Mobs by Howard Rheingold and the other is Everyware by Adam Greenfield. They are both surveys of current technology and the possibilities for the near future.

Smart Mobs
This book, while it varies a lot, is mostly about mobility, networks, people and what is happening with all that. It’s a look at what happens when people as a group interact with technology, what we have done with it, and what we will be facing in the future. It dips into a lot of philosophical discussion and talk of ubicomp.

Everyware
Similar to Smart Mobs, it’s talking about the future, but the focus is more on technology that we are using and will use in our daily life. It’s a very good overview of recent research and ideas that are out there, with a greater sense of urgency than Smart Mobs. As a designer himself, Adam Greenfield takes a stab at some initial principles.

Smart Mobs using Everyware
The books are similar enough that I have trouble distinguishing my thoughts about them. Both of the authors call themselves futurists, and spend most of the time talking about the future state of things as derived from current technology and intentions by research groups and companies.

The most valuable thing I’ve gotten from both of them is a deep pool of resources that they bring up. They both bring up a lot of philosophical trains of thought, researchers, manifestos, and books that help to understand what’s around the corner. I think it’s great because a lot of them are confirming stuff that we already learned like Goffman’s various writings on the presentation of self.

 They also bring up and explain technologies that are enabling new ways of interacting with each other that we don’t really have time to cover in school. Knowing about what is going to happen with data networks and embedded technology will probably help to ground design ideas a little better

The other thing I liked about both books is the balanced approach they take. They are cautiously embracing the new, which is probably a healthy thing to do. They bounce back and forth, describing utopias and dystopias of the future. Both authors really want to preserve human dignity and use new technology to benefit us rather than just because we can, much like we are taught throughout school.

There is a strong sense of urgency in both of the books. They are talking about the inevitable and we have to be prepared to deal with complex situations that are very different from what we are used to. I think their sense of urgency is already being answered through user-centered design, I hope.

Not to go on too long, but I think both of these books are important for designers of all kinds, especially with mobility where it’s at today. I have heard lots of people distance themselves from anything technical because of the connotation that interaction design already has, but I’ll reserve my thoughts on that for later.

Criticism?
I don’t have anything that critical to say about the books. To people who are already familiar with this stuff, the books might not be so useful. For designers, they don’t offer many answers, but mostly questions and considerations we need to understand.

Smart Mobs came out in 2002 and Everyware in 2006, so sometimes it feels like Adam Greenfield is simply updating the state of things with his book. Smart Mobs takes a very massive approach and covers a lot of different topics, whereas Everyware is a little more focused and organized in bite-sized chunks. In terms of a knowledge resource, I found Smart Mobs to be a little deeper, and I plan on actually buying it just to reference. There are a lot of great quotes and references. There’s also the Smart Mobs blog which updates with news relevant to stuff that is talked about in the book. It’s a shame Everyware doesn’t have something similar, unless I missed it. Either way, both were well worth it, and are easily skimmable.

PS. No, I haven’t started reading for my thesis project yet.

Again?
My final thoughts on the “JesusPhone.” I showed up at the Apple store on Michigan Avenue a few minutes after it opened, so I got to witness all the crazies lined up and crowding around the doors. I found the presence of Chicago police funny, even if it was justified. I didn’t end up getting my hands on one of the smudged screen until the next day after patiently waiting for one of the many that they had scattered around the store.

The funny thing was listening to all the people call up their friends on the store phones and go “Hey! I’m calling you from an iPhone!” leaving their poor friend’s number on a public phone. The phone I was using had a bunch of numbers left behind, hopefully they won’t be called up while eating dinner.

After using one for a bit, I ended up with the same view as a lot of other people. The touchscreen is neat. The visual and physical design is great. It’s also great for their first try at a phone, but it’s still lacking in the general scheme of things. Still not worth the money. The media coverage of it is a little out of control, and I think I need an iPhone detox week. That probably won’t be likely this week though.

Hello MotoLabs
On a somewhat unrelated note, it was nice to see two stories on experientia regarding MotoLabs since I really dig a lot of the stuff they do there. Their user-centeredness feels a lot more inline with what we are taught at CMU. The first post was a presentation by Crysta Metcalf called Investigating the Sharing Practices of Family & Friends to Inform Communication Technology Innovations, which is directly related to the project our group did for Grad Studio. So it’s nice to see a rigorous study conducted a little more broadly and seeing similar trends show up. It also helps to know that we were working on something relevant during school.

I had the chance to meet with Crysta a couple of times and talk with her about her research and how it fits into CXD and Motorola. I’ve also been able to speak with Frank Bentley who had the other presentation on experientia, which is about ambient motion information on mobile devices. Everyone there has been extremely generous with their time and willing to discuss anything.

I wonder what else the people at MotoLabs will come up with. I’ve enjoyed visiting them every time, but I’m not sure how many times I want to head over to Schaumburg

I’ve had a lot of random thoughts about the iPhone since it first came out in January, ranging from lust to disgust. Although I wanted to hold back until it came out, I thought it might be appropriate to say something on the eve of its release. Jamin had a an entertaining post about it, and it seems to have deeply angered people like Dvorak from PC mag. There are lists all over the place about the top reasons to buy or not to buy one. I always find discussions of Apple and their products interesting.

Bad Apple
I don’t really know much about them as a company besides the rumors that are circulated. For a long time I had no interest in them and I regarded them as people who made stuff for simpletons. I started using them in undergrad at the computer labs just because the log-in process was significantly faster. After using them extensively during the first year of grad school, I’m totally sold on their simplicity and I tell everyone to get one who isn’t tech-savvy. They are computers made for people whose goal is do get stuff done and not to just use a computer.

All politics aside, that’s how I see the iPhone. Like any product, there are lots of benefits and detriments. But Apple has attempted to make a device for people whose goal is to call, get info, and listen to music. Not only that, but they announced and presented it in a way that is easy for people to understand and realize why they would want it. We learn in school how important the argument is for new products and this is a prime example. They are stressing the functionality of it in a clear and concise manner that makes sense, there’s no shame in that.

I see it as a really positive wave of energy because they are proving how important user-centered design and clarity is for mobile devices. Their innovation was not in bringing a new technology to market, but taking existing technologies and features and packaging them in a way that will hopefully allow for a greater experience for people.

Money, Money, Money, Money 
While this is great and all, it’s not worth it to me. It’s probably also not worth it to a large percentage of the population that will settle for free and low-cost phones. I was considering buying one at first because I had never shelled out the cash for a phone or an iPod, so it seemed like it might be worth it. But $600 plus a $60 phone bill is not something I want to deal with right now.

Perhaps when there is a potential for longer-term usage (changeable battery, memory extensions, etc…) I might consider spending that much on a product. So whenever good design becomes affordable for the everyday person, I’ll get in line the night before. For right now I’m fine just ogling at it and wishing for a free one.