design

Artefacts & Embedded Values

One of the themes that I have been trying to get across to audience in some of my recent lectures has been the philosophical and political implications of technology. The point I am trying to illustrate is that technology is embedded not only with the designer’s ideas about the user’s needs, the way in which the technology will be used and the marketability of the product – but each product also contains a depth of philosophical and political beliefs.

Therefore while in Borås I spoke about a chair that happened to be in the lecture hall. It was a typical Scandinavian conference room chair. The fact that we can recognize a chair as typical Scandinavian is, in itself, telling.

The chair’s “Scandinavianess” was revealed in the result of multiple design choices.

The choices of shape, the weight, the cloth, the pattern on the cloth and the wooden frame make the chair and also reveal its economic, social, moral, political and philosophical background. The most obvious give away was the choice of pinewood. This honey color has come to symbolize Scandinavian design from high culture Aalto to mass production Ikea.

The shape reveals that it is intended for audiences, the shape and the cloth show that it is not for schools. The pattern of the cloth ages the chair and shows it belongs to a bygone era of design (it’s the early 90’s).

While it is relatively easy to illustrate these points it is more complex to show the connection to the way in which the technology controls and regulates our behavior. This control is particularly relevant in technologies that manipulate and alter the way in which we communicate.

A recent development on Facebook illustrates the way in which technology controls and enables what users can do. The Facebook profile has long had an obligatory “is” in the way in which the user can describe what is going on. The result can be something like “Mathias is at work”, “Mathias is sleeping” and “Mathias is feeling good”.

The little “is” limits the way in which the user can communicate. Maybe the user is no longer, maybe the user wants to be “was” or why even a verb of being? By removing the compulsory state of being the user now is free to express much more than a state of being. “Mathias wants…”, “Mathias runs…” or “Mathias eats”.

This change enables the user and dares him/her to make an existential shift from the Heideggerian state (as Christopher puts it). The question, of course, is whether or not the user will dare to going beyond the “is” now that the freedom to do so has been enabled.

Posted on by mklang

FSCONS and Skolelinux

The FSCONS conference was really good. I managed to speak to many interesting people and my presentation turned into a very good interactive discussion with the audience. The only thing that is wrong is that I am unable to attend the second day which is today. The reason for this is that my grandmother is 90. This is a birthday that cannot be missed so I am on the train to Stockholm.

As part of the FSCONS the Free Software Foundation Europe created and handed out the first Free Software Scandinavian Award. Since I was on the award committee I know first hand how interesting reviewing and discussing Free Software projects and initiatives can be. Here is the press release about the award which went to the excellent Norwegian project Skolelinux:

Free Software Foundation Europe is proud to announce that the Norwegian project Skolelinux is the winner of the first Free Software Scandinavian Award handed out at during the Free Software Conference Scandinavia 2007 in Göteborg friday 2007-12-07.

Skolelinux has under a long period of time worked hard to promote the use of Free Software as well as the use of free and open standards and file formats. By using low cost or spare hardware, schools and other public institutions can find a free and cheap IT solution made to meet their needs.

Skolelinux captures a big part of the free software spirit; sharing and reusing. By focusing on schools, Skolelinux makes sure students, tomorrow’s computer users, and decision makers, can grow up in a spirit of sharing, reusing and learning from family, friends and neighbours.

The goals of Skolelinux are to:

* Provide a complete software solution using free software tailored for the needs and use-cases in educational scenarios.

* Pre-configured for easy installation (standalone, as well as network-wide roll out).

* Easy to use, maintain, and administer.

* Supporting your native language.

* Classify and package all free software related to education.

* Write documentation to describe how to use the various software (in an educational context).

* International availability, currently being translated into more than 50 languages.

Skolelinux has combined important, and dedicated work contributions with technical knowledge and political skills.

The adoption of Skolelinux in so many countries around the globe shows that the use of Free Software and open standards has really been spreading in a very positiv way.

The next milestone is that we are now seeing the merge of different school systems based on Free Software. The largest example is the merge between Skolelinux and the very successful Spanish GNU/LinEx project which has at the moment more than 250.000 users and 80.000 work stations in use in schools in Extremadura. The one laptop for every two pupils project.

Both Skolelinux and the GNU/LinEx buildts on Debian GNU/Linux and can enjoy the many synergy effects.

By focusing on schools the Skolelinux project shows by example how Free Software can be used. The jury finds this strategy important for the continued use of free and open standards.

Short about Skolelinux:

GNU/Linux in Schools

Skolelinux is free, stable, future secured, sustainable, and is upgraded frequently

– no license problems
– easy and time saving administration
– security updates are made quickly available
– simple system updating
– good administration of the software packets
– older PC ‘s can be used as thin clients
– no dependence on commercial interests/vendor lock in

About the leadership:
———————
The Skolelinux project has “doer democracy” which means that the active persons decide! The merit lies in your contributions not in your title.

The free, open source code in the project is very valuable because the source code is available making it is easy to change and
customize. This is illustrated by the many languages that are being supported. In a digitalized world it is important for the survival of the cultures that even small national languages are being actively supported.

The collaboration platform:
—————————
The Skolelinux version 3.0r1 is now available. There has been a valuable collaboration between the following countries: Germany, Spain , France, Greece and Norway. Lately also with a Canadian School project.

For some years now there have been regular meetings between different free software school systems and projects. The reason being to share cool applications and avoid double work. A win-win situation for all.

Congratulations again to Skolelinux. We wish you continued growths and success.

The Scandinavian Free Software Award
————————————

The Scandinavian Free Software Award has been designed for Nordic citizens, projects or organizations that make an outstanding contribution to the Free Software movement. Free Software projects, efforts, achievements of all kinds – including work done by Nordic citizens which has had a large effect in other parts of the world are eligible to be nominated. It is the aim of FSCONS 2007 that this award becomes an annual event.

Jury 2007:

The jury is compiled by Nordic citizens only. This year the members are:

– Anne Østergaard (Gnome Foundation, Denmark)
– Henrik Sandklef (FSFE, Sweden)
– Jonas Öberg (FSFE, Sweden)
– Marcus Rejås (FSFE, Sweden)
– Mathias Klang (FSFE, Sweden)
– Petter Reinholdtsen (NUUG, Norway)

Here is the complete list of nominated projects.

Posted on by mklang

Book, bug crusher & hat or why ebooks fail

Ok, so I have already written about my lack of enthusiasm in the newest ebook reader. That’s putting it mildly. But when I read Steven Poole’s 14 point list about what the ebook  of the future must be able to do in order to beat the book I laughed out loud – so since it is Friday I thought that we all needed a laugh at Amazon’s expense…

So the ebook of the future:

1 It will have an inexhaustible source of energy and never need recharging.

2 It will have resolution as good as print. (No, Amazon, really as good as print.)

3 It will be able to survive coffee and wine spills, days of intense sunlight, dropping in the ocean, light charring, and falling completely into two or more pieces, while still remaining perfectly readable afterwards.

4 It will allow me to scribble notes and/or doodles in the margins, with my choice of mechanical pencil or fine Muji fibre-tip pen (black). (Note, typing in the margins with a crappy thumb keyboard is not an acceptable alternative.)

5 It will allow me to riffle through it and thus get a quick, intuitive look at the book’s argumentative or narrative structure.

6 It will allow me to tear off the corner of a page to write down my phone number (or someone else’s).

7 It will display to other people in coffee shops and on public transport the title of what I am reading, so as to advertise my erudition or quirky sense of humour.

8 It will be physically handsome, not drop-dead fugly. (Note to Amazon: for pity’s sake, next time, head-hunt people from Sony or Apple.)

9 Indeed, the books on it will still be designed, by typesetters and graphic artists, so as to feed our aesthetic pleasure.

10 I will still be able to lend or give books to friends, or swap books in and out of the honour library of much-read novels in a Mediterranean seaside bar.

11 I will be able to use the ebook as a reliable flat surface for rolling cigarettes or other leaf-based refreshments, without worrying about debris shorting the motherboard.

12 When I receive the updated edition of the Oxford Companion to Philosophy, I will be able to press the previous edition into service as a stand for the left-hand music speaker on my desk.

13 The ebook will function, morever, as both bug-crusher and discretionary hat. Placed on my face, it will make a soft roof against the sun on the beach.

14 I will still be able to hurl a fatuous tome such as Jeff Gomez’s Print Is Dead across the room without thereby destroying my ability to read any other books.

Posted on by mklang

Tracking Schoolchildren with RFID

It’s strange that everyone sings the praise of RFID and the main struggle seems to be how to implement the technology in as many places as possible. The Register reports that a UK school is piloting a monitoring system designed to keep tabs on pupils by tracking RFID chips in their uniforms.

According to the Doncaster Free Press, Hungerhill School is testing RFID tracking and data collection on 10 pupils within the school. It’s been developed by local company Darnbro Ltd, which says it is ready to launch the product into the £300m school uniform market.

As Bruce Schneier points out the scheme is not difficult to thwart – simply ask a friend to carry the chipped uniform into class. Despite this, the dream of using technological surveillance seems to blind people of their lack of efficiency and reliability.

The real cost is the actual lack of integrity, the high potential for abusing the system and the fundamental shift in attitude which we are pushing on the children in the project. They are being taught (indoctrinated) that technology should be used as a surveillance tool. Asking the teachers to remember their names would apparently be too much to ask for.

Posted on by mklang

Do I believe in Web 2.0 or what is the point of Facebook

A couple of days ago at the Sour Herring dinner at Lund one of my companions at the table said that he did not believe in Web 2.0. Interaction, he said, was overrated. Most of us around the table took the remark as humor and we were satisfied with this.

But the remark has been gnawing at the back of my mind. Do I believe in Web 2.0?

At first this may seem like a strange question, coming from me. I blog and participate in other blogs. I have set up and run wiki’s and used these technologies in the classroom, in research and with friends. Still the question is rather valid.

No blogs and wiki’s don’t require that you believe in them. If they are useful they will be used. I enjoy them and use them as a central part of my work (and play). But what about the more typical social networking sites?

Just to name a few I am a member at Technorati, Linkedin and Facebook. I have even upgraded my free account on flickr to pro (which means I am paying money for it). Besides flickr the usefulness of the others is unclear to me. Technorati is not much of a social networking site it is more of an aggregator for blogs – so let’s move on.

Linkedin seems to be a more formal social networking site based upon professional contacts. It is not really designed to encourage wide scale use. Facebook on the other hand it something quite different.

Facebook is a huge social networking site where people are actively encouraged to collect friends and interact with them by comparing films, music and books. The site encourages users to play games with each other such as the presently popular war of the vampires.

With all these applications I can really see that users can spend literally hours online finding and interacting with their online friends but after some testing I still am struck by the sensation or feeling: What is the point of facebook? It is surprising to see how many people are using it – in particular its appeal the the large group of non-techie or non-Web 2.0 crowd. But I still don’t really get it. What is the allure of this site? What need or desire does the site fulfill?

Or is it simply that the social interaction between friends, even in an online virtual forum, is the whole point. Oh well, I would like to analyze this further but unfortunately I need to update my profile 🙂

Posted on by mklang

Toothbrushes, Manuals and Design

Most people seem to dislike manuals. Some dislike them because they are too technical, some are just too lazy or eager to read, while others feel that technology should be intuitive enough to be understood without the need of a manual. I must admit that I lean towards the latter argument.

But sometimes I like to read manuals. In particular I enjoy reading the labels on simple things. It amuses me to think that some large company has actually employed someone to write a text for a simple everyday object. And also others to translate the text. It is, in my opinion, a good example of how we are over-stressing the importance of design. Design is important, but it should only be noticed when it is absent not spoken about constantly.

Back to the texts on the back of everyday objects. When I changed my toothbrush I could not stop myself from reading the text on the back:

Experience a whole new dimension of freshness with the cool textured tongue freshener on the back of the brush head that powers away odour-causing bacteria.

Multi-height, multi-angle bristles penetrate deeply between teeth to clean away bacteria and plaque.

What language! What heavy sentences – you can almost hear the music in the background. Heavy classical or maybe even rock and roll. The toothbrush itself is highly designed to fit ergonomically in the hand. It has bright (dare I say fresh?) colors. This object has been subject to a serious extreme makeover, product development and marketing hype. It just want’s o make me shout out loud:

Hey guys get over it – It’s just a toothbrush!

Posted on by mklang

Free Aunty Beeb

The BBC is one of those world institutions, a social and cultural backbone which we almost always take for granted. Naturally one does not achieve such status without making wrong turns. Thankfully there are those who are quick to point out the errors and attempt to show the correct path. Much like one may lead an old aunty to the table there are activists who disagree with the BBC’s use of DRM technologies.

The site Free the BBC contains a letter to the BBC with the main arguments (relevant to the BBC) against DRM. Many of the arguments have been heard before but I particularly liked this new one:

The BBC royal charter establishes a number of goals and operating conditions including “promoting education and learning”, “stimulating creativity and cultural excellence”, and “bringing the UK to the world”. DRM runs contrary to all of these purposes. DRM limits education by restricting copying for public educational purposes, and even inhibits private study. It stifles creativity by trying to make even incidental remixing impossible. Finally, it arbitrarily limits the BBC’s reach by forcing viewers to use particular proprietary software applications. DRM advances corporate interests over the public interest, which is in flagrant opposition to the charter.

So what are you waiting for? Go there, read the letter containing the arguments and sign it!

For those of you who found the title slightly cryptic: The BBC is sometimes referred to as Aunty Beeb.

Posted on by mklang

Digital Sharecropping

George Lucas is joining the Web 2.0 bandwagon and allowing fans to create mashups of Star Wars. Wow, what a guy? Impressed? Happy? Don’t be!!!

â??Star Warsâ?? fans can connect with the Force in ways theyâ??ve only imagined beginning May 25, when StarWars.com launches a completely redesigned website that empowers fans to â??mash-upâ?? their homemade videos with hundreds of scenes from â??Star Warsâ?? movies; watch hundreds of fan-made â??Star Warsâ?? videos; and interact with â??Star Warsâ?? enthusiasts from around the world like never before.

With an innovative, interactive site that allows users to navigate to multiple â??Star Warsâ?? worlds, a new video focus, and groundbreaking â??Web 2.0â?? features â?? including a unique online multi-media mixing platform from Eyespot â?? the new StarWars.com will unveil its redesigned website on May 25 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the â??Star Warsâ?? Saga.

Among the most compelling features of the newly redesigned StarWars.com is the incorporation of an online video-editing tool provided by Eyespot. It allows users to add their own video shots to more than 250 scenes and music taken from all six â??Star Warsâ?? films and create their own â??Star Warsâ?? movies to share with others.

Unfortunately the material the creative fans will create will not belong to them but will remain in the hands of George Lucas. The fan-created videos will run along with commercials profits split between Lucasfilm and Eyespot.

The idea of users being drafted, fooled, enticed into doing the work for someone else has been called digital sharecropping by Lessig. This refers to the situation where the work is carried out by poor day laborers while the landowners sit and reap the rewards of another’s creativity.

Read more about this over at the Volokh Conspiracy

Posted on by mklang

Smoking Jacket

The Smoking Jacket by Fiona Carswell is part of a project “…exploring reflective design as it relates to the body, behavioral choices, and information displays.”

The idea is to remind the smoker about the consequences of smoking. The jacket “…has a built-in pair of lungs on the front. As the wearer smokes, the lungs fill up with the exhaled cigarette smoke and begin to gradually darken over time.”

Smoking Jacket

At first I thought this was kind of creepy but now I think the jacket is a bit cool – maybe too cool? Instead of acting as a deterrent it may even encourage users?
(via Art Threat)

Posted on by mklang

What Google wants

To many users Google is understood as a neutral tool. A search engine without bias in any form. While Google has never made any such claim their attitudes and appearance do nothing to dispel this common misconception. It is easy to understand how the idea that technology in itself is neither good nor bad and may be seen as neutral comes about. But such an idea fails to take into account that technology is a man-made phenomenon and as such is the result of countless decisions and perceptions of right and wrong. Therefore while the technological thing may be neutral the choices behind its design, manufacture and use are not.

One of the implementations of Google that may be seen as less than neutral is the harvesting of user searches. Google has a long tradition of recording what people search for. This practice is not without its critics but until now Google has been silent about their purpose for harvesting this data. Last week Googleâ??s Global Privacy Counsel Peter Fleischer posted three reasons why Google captures and retains usersâ?? search queries. The reasons fall into three areas:

  1. Improve our services
  2. Maintain security and prevent fraud and abuse
  3. Comply with legal obligations to retain data

This has not passed uncommented. Micheal Zimmer and Seth Finkelstein are both critical to these explanations in two excellent commentaries they explain why Google’s reasons are mainly unsatisfactory and even misguided.

Posted on by mklang