Awesome post. I think that we tend to focus too much on making a technological solution regardless of the problem, which can sometimes be solved in a better and simpler way by making a physical product. We have the programming hammer, and we see nails everywhere.
Tangible objects can delight us in ways that software has never reached yet, and which I personally don't believe will ever be equated.
A friend of mine (software engineer, heavy proponent of the "minimalist" movement) recently argued that he wanted more software in his life, and less objects that clutter and take up space. He wants everything to be controllable and accessible from his phone's touchscreen. He's not the only one, as evidenced by that Microsoft proof of concept video a few months ago which depicted a future made only out of touchscreens.
I think this is a very bleak thing to wish for- interacting with the world solely with the tips of our fingers is neither inspiring nor sensical.
(As a small aside, that's one of the things I really like about Kickstarter- the fact that most of the projects lead to tangible products.)
Nice post Eric. This is why I can never imagine myself without my physical books, whether or not I have a Kindle. A world in which the only texture is glass is sad.
Our hands are amazing for feeling minute changes with the tips of our fingers. And we discard that ability if every device we interact with is a glass surface
Yep. I didn't get to mention the purely tactile reasons we went with a printed map, but it was definitely a big factor.
If you have a look at the "Fold" section on the kickstarter page, we put up two diagrams from the original paper describing the folding method we used, that shows a light-traced image of how one's hands move when unfolding a conventionally folded map vs. a miura folded map. The latter simply <i>feels</i> much better!
Tangible objects can delight us in ways that software has never reached yet, and which I personally don't believe will ever be equated.
A friend of mine (software engineer, heavy proponent of the "minimalist" movement) recently argued that he wanted more software in his life, and less objects that clutter and take up space. He wants everything to be controllable and accessible from his phone's touchscreen. He's not the only one, as evidenced by that Microsoft proof of concept video a few months ago which depicted a future made only out of touchscreens.
I think this is a very bleak thing to wish for- interacting with the world solely with the tips of our fingers is neither inspiring nor sensical.
(As a small aside, that's one of the things I really like about Kickstarter- the fact that most of the projects lead to tangible products.)