March 2008

My wife and I are off to Honduras. This part of the internets will be exhaustless for the next week.

So I've been thinking about this Newsweek article, Revenge of the Experts, and some of the more solid responses to this article like The Experts vs. the Amateurs: A Tug of War over the Future of Media and Crowdsourcing vs Expertsourcing: A Misleading Comparison

Here's a great piece of the Newsweek article:

In short, the expert is back. The revival comes amid mounting demand for a more reliable, bankable Web. "People are beginning to recognize that the world is too dangerous a place for faulty information," says Charlotte Beal, a consumer strategist for the Minneapolis-based research firm Iconoculture. Beal adds that choice fatigue and fear of bad advice are creating a "perfect storm of demand for expert information."

I'm not going to reiterate the articles I noted above (I just found more at BuzzFeed)

My response to this article is quite simple. In life, a small handful of people rise to the top in their selected fields. They rise to the top because a few key ingredients:

a) they're driven
b) they're talented
c) they have the right connections
d) any combination of the above

This equation applies to the world of blogging and online journalism as much as it does any other 'professional' field. Some people like to dismiss blogging because it has an amateur connotation associated with it. Fuck these people.

Example:
I read Daring Fireball daily. Jon Gruber is an excellent writer ...and researcher ...and thinker. I don't distinguish him as any less professional than any of the news sources his routinely tears down even though it would be easy to regard him as just a blogger.

Ironically, he routinely points out all the inaccuracies and fallacies in the "real journalists'" articles (for a taste of his asshole-ripping, check out, How Leander Kahney Got Everything Wrong by Being an Irredeemable Jackass).

Robert Scoble is another great example. Even before he was associated with FastCompany he was a popular blogger. He personally drives me nuts and his head is waaaaay too big, but it's very, very evident why he is where he is today - drive. Dismiss him as a jackass all you want, but he loves what he does (and he loves himself). Ego has a lot to do with where you end up in life.

So if we look at the Newsweek article in a different light, "Revenge of the Experts" is a correct title. In the early days there were a lot of poor blogs, but as blogging has matured, the professionals have risen to the surface - whether or not they're associated with a professional publication or not.

The premise of the article is still very incorrect - as some of the other articles I mentioned above also note. User-generated content is not out and many of the examples the article gives as 'professional' examples

I had to pitch to a prospective client today for Schematic.

I stayed up until 2AM this past Sunday preparing my designs. Our CTO integrated my designs into our Keynote presentation and everything came together perfectly. All in all it was a great pitch and the prospective client responded great to our work.

Then as we were getting ready to leave in the lobby we saw 'the other agency' that was pitching right after us.

They looked like a bunch of scrubs.

Their clothes weren't horrible but they weren't great either. Then I looked down - their shoes were even worse.

Let's get this straight people - if you're a client-facing person at your company you should own a pair of $300 dress beautiful shoes.

If this sounds snobby, you can take it deep, because it's true. You don't need 5 pair or 10 pair, just one pair of top-of-the-line shoes. Also throw in a pair of $200 quality jeans. If you take care of them, they'll last you a long time.

What? That's expensive? So fucking what. Maybe don't blow $100 a weekend on drinks for a month. Or maybe wait on buying that $400 PS3 you were planning on getting. I'll repeat myself - if you are a client-facing person good clothes are essential.

Let's put it another way - if you're pitching to client - your clothing should be as amazing as whatever designs, Keynote presentations or After Effects prototypes you're showing.

Image is key. Consistency is essential.

Palm chief: no new Treos until summer - Bummer, I was looking forward to some fresh 8-bit graphic 'smart' phones.

...pysche!

Color Chart: Reinventing Color from 1950 to Today - Great data visualizing and navigation. (via swissmiss)

Publicis & Hal Riney - It's not perfect by any means, but really makes me think of the possibilities... (via theFWA)

Microsites = waste - very good read.

And while we're on the topic of bad practices on the web, check out, Think Different: Maybe the Web's Not a Place to Stick Your Ads (via Design View)

Digital A-List 2008: Next in Line - #2 ...Go Schematic!

UPDATE: I just realized we were also Webpick of the Week at CommArts for 02.29.08.

full disclosure: I'm an art director at this kick-ass agency.

I shoot photography because I love it. I think if I wasn't an art director, my second career choice would be photographer.

Like any activity, photography takes practice. Many of my shots are not winners. That's not to say that I snap away recklessly and hope for the best, but there's definitely a level of experimentation I engage in.

A good part about this experimentation is due to the fact that for a while now, I shoot a lot of photos with my camera hanging around neck at around stomach-level. This lets me grab shots of people relaxed.

Many people are much more on guard when you're aiming at them. Much like aiming a weapon, aiming a camera at someone without permission is threatening. With the camera at ease, I don't have to worry about this. I get the shots I want. Well, I try my best to get the shots I think I'm getting from my waist.

Shooting like this sometimes results in some unexpected money shots, but many times they end up less-than-ideal. Underexposed, overexposed, out of focus.

Every now and then though, when the rare elements of photography are in alignment, I capture some great little moments. It makes all those duds worth it.

In the Ray, from the set 3.15.2008

Google Exec: Android Will Outsell iPhone

Is he sure? I'm not ...and I wanted to burn this into database memory that someone at Google uttered these words.

Of course there's a chance this could come to pass, especially considering it will/could show up on devices from Motorola, HTC, Samsung, and others.

Questions that have yet to be answered are:

Will all phones from Motorola, HTC, Samsung and others be using the Android OS?

How well will Android operate on the range of phones out there - from basic models to feature rich smart phones with QWERTY keyboards?

The reason Apple's products work so well it because of the complete synchronization of hardware AND software. There's a lot of benefits to a controlled environment.

Developers are bitching and moaning about how the iPhone can only run 1 program at a time - none can run in the 'background'. I encourage these clowns to develop their own applications, jailbreak their iPhones and see how well their iPhone runs when they have disregarded the technical specs on memory and CPU.

There's a chance Apple might know a little bit about performance optimization. Just a chance.

With Android, there isn't a well-designed SDK and GUI to develop, test and troubleshoot applications with, so I can't foresee it integrating seamlessly across the board on all the various phones it could end up on.

Call me crazy.

After yesterday's post on the great ad-blocking Firefox plug-in, AdBlock, I kept thinking about advertising.

We'll always have advertising in one form or another. To get interpretive for a moment, we all engage in advertising, when we get dressed to go on a date, or an interview - you're selling yourself.

Anyway, I was thinking about how banner ads on websites suck so bad and I realized something that is very comparable - Green Peace sidewalk solicitors.

If you live in a big city like New York you know who these people are. I've even seen them outside large department stores in suburbs throughout the country.

The reason banner ads are like Green Peace solicitors is because both of them distract you from your objective. Many of you are conditioned to block out both of these distractions and continue on with your objective, but regardless if you do or don't have this ability, they're annoying as hell.

We're already seeing advertising changing from distractions, to destinations - advertising experiences that people choose to view.

I'll leave this idea for another post.

A zoom-in on one of the jellybean status icons from iChat:

Zoom-in on the sound visualizer in iTunes:

The other day I was trying to imagine an online world with no advertising. No advertising meaning, no Adobe Flash ads, no banner ads, no Eyeblaster roadblocks and no ad pages that pop up before I get to the page I clicked for.

Then I thought - couldn't you write an add-on for Firefox that removes ads?

Turns out, such a thing already exists - has existed since 2006. I know, I'm late on this.

Is called AdBlock and has changed my online viewing experience completely allowed me to enjoy online content more. I think it also shows not only how ugly ads are to the online landscape. but also how outdated the current ad models are.

I don't click on banner ads, but now I don't have to deal with the *noise* that ads create on websites I visit.

In cheesy infomercial style, I'd just like to say,

"Thank you AdBlock - you've changed my life!"

How awesome is AdBlock? Look below for the below-and-after shots of some websites I frequent (note that none of these images have been edited in Photoshop):

Full disclosure: I am an Apple shareholder, and have been using Apple computers for over 10 years. Microsoft can take it deep.

I'd like to squash all these false statements about how Apple 'fanboys' gloat over their precious iPhones.

I was out this weekend with some friends and friends-of-friends. They all had iPhones, and the interesting thing was - they were all PC users. Below is a shot I took with my iPhone of the other three.

I have to tell you, PC users seem to gloat just as much over their iPhones as Mac users do. So be sure you know who you're talking about next time you want to hate on a Mac user, he just might be one of your own!

Stay vigilant.

I was at the flea market on 25th & 6th Ave last weekend, looking for graphic gems and I found a few. One item I found was Protection from Radioactive Fallout. It was published in 1959 and the gist of it is that if a nuclear bomb drops, you're fucked no matter how way you slice it.

Here are the more interesting illustrations:

Great effects reel from Sea Level (thanks Jory)

I came across this article in my Google Reader: DVD format battle attracts a new rival: HD VMD

I have to point out some things regarding the whole battle war feud competition between DVD DVD and Blu Ray ...and now possibly HD VMD - this is going to confuse the shit of out consumers.

When manufacturers constantly update their hardware formats, they're unintentionally causing buying anxiety in consumers. We're at a point now where a lot of people have finally gotten around to buying a DVD player, and some have even gone as far as to start their own collection - whether this collection be purchased or ripped from Netflix DVD's.

In 2007 two new formats emerged with more resolution muscle and capacity and we were told to scrap the DVD format, go with one of these new formats - although we weren't sure yet what the adoption/endorsement from major studios was going to be yet on either format (now that we're into March of 2008 it seems Blu Ray is the 'winner').

Then this morning I read about this new HD VMD format.

Enough is enough.

What happens in situations like these are what Barry Schwartz calls the Paradox of Choice. Basically, if people are presented too many options, or in this case, asked to change video formats too quickly, instead of picking one - they don't pick any.

Contrast the problems of hardware upgrades to software upgrades. Let's use my favorite new device - my iPhone.

The iPhone updates (and OS X updates in general) happen without the need to replace anything due to their nature (it's called SOFTware for a reason, actually, it's technically called firmware).

The whole process is practically seemless - just download the software update, install, and reset/reboot. No additional hardware, memory, plug-ins or connectors.

We can see the benefits of such software-based systems with a simple and very likely scenario.

Say Apple suddenly decides it needs to update your iPhone with a new version of Quicktime with dozens of new features and functionality and will sport a Super Extra Ultra High Definition resolution. If the iPhone relied on hardware upgrading to make this happen there would be 3 possible outcomes:

1. You upgrade your iPhone hardware and everything goes smoothly
2. Apple makes you buy a new iPhone to enjoy the new features
3. You upgrade your iPhone hardware and everything goes horribly wrong
4. You do nothing, and keep your iPhone as is

Of course, we don't have to worry about any of these possibilities since all we need to do is connect our iPhone to iTunes, sync it and restart it.

Google understands the power of this with Google Docs and all their other online tools. Google can change their software at will without affecting anyone's computer. I won't even get into the benefits of not having to launch software locally from your hard drive.

Technology systems reliant on a fixed format lack agility.

Umair over at Bubblegeneration has some more great thoughts on Why HD-DVD And Blu-Ray Are (Strategically) Obsolete.

The cover story in Wired right now is Free! Why $0.00 Is the Future of Business.

But free is not quite as simple — or as stupid — as it sounds. Just because products are free doesn't mean that someone, somewhere, isn't making huge gobs of money. Google is the prime example of this. The monetary benefits of craigslist are enormous as well, but they're distributed among its tens of thousands of users rather than funneled straight to Craig Newmark Inc. To follow the money, you have to shift from a basic view of a market as a matching of two parties — buyers and sellers — to a broader sense of an ecosystem with many parties, only some of which exchange cash.

The most common of the economies built around free is the three-party system. Here a third party pays to participate in a market created by a free exchange between the first two parties. Sound complicated? You're probably experiencing it right now. It's the basis of virtually all media.

You have to read the story to have that title make sense to you.

...and I think The Beauty Of 99¢ iPhone Apps (via) shares a lot of the same thinking.

This was pasted around a few years ago, but it's always refreshing to watch (although the narrator's voice is pretty stale):

Know your music history!

If you're gonna have a hit,
You gotta make it fit --
So they cut it down to 3:05.

I give you the new most viewed video of all time (as of 3.6.2008) on Youtube:

Cansei de Ser Sexy sure knows what Lithe is talking about re: Hemingway and Britney Spears.

So after a year of being an art director at Schematic, my Flash muscles have gotten out of shape. Before Schematic, I used to juggle many hats - HTML, design, Actionscripting and animation. Now I work with people who are dedicated to these specific tasks, so that I can focus on my task of designing an art directing.

WIth that said, I'm working on some freelance projects as well as a side project at work (kind of like my own '20 percent project') that requires I get back into Flash and start programming again. (Not because someone told me to, but because I want to. My father is an engineer so I know I have some of his geek genes coursing through me).

Back in the day I used to use Laco's tween class for scripted motion in Flash. Then that evolved into Fuse Kit.

My friend Quigga has told me to drop Fuse and use TweenLite. Put simply - it's lean and mean. Check out the speed test and you be the judge.

I also started using another Greenstock class for preloading assets, the PreloadAssetManager class.

Hello again Flash, here I come!

Swissmiss has post on THEBLOG WEEMADE, a blog dedicated to showcasing kids artwork.

Meh.

It's missing something....

...maybe it's missing some Maddox flavor: I am better than your kids, parts 1 & 2.

This image has some serious explaining to do:

I would seriously be crapping my pants if I had a big-busted, Viking-looking teacher that looked like that. Check out those HEELS!!!!!

When Picasso was quoted in saying, "good artists copy, great artists steal" - the folks at Meizu took the 'copy' part and ran with it (found via Engadget):

As someone who has been working as a professional interactive designer for over 8 years, I can't count how many times I've been inspired by other people's work. Without getting into a whole discussion on 'what is originality', all artists (architects, painters, sculptors, designers - clothing, product, environment, interactive, web) are influenced by everything they see, hear and touch. No one exists in a vacuum.

Picasso didn't copy African masks in his Demoiselles d'Avignon - he stole them. Stealing for Picasso - and all other great artists - involves a sophisticated level of mutating the original 'stolen goods' and creating something new with them.

Paul Simon also stole from African music on his amazing album Graceland. You can hear the references, but the music is entirely his.

Other artists 'steal' things in more subtle ways that aren't immediately visible - in the form of geometric shapes and proportions and physics theories (where would we be without simulated friction in interactive design?)

Meizu is copying the iPhone.

I can't imagine doing what Meizu did and being comfortable with it. If they were doing it purely as a 'phase 1' before evolving their own designs, that would be fine. But they're not.

The sad part about this is that the interface Apple created for the iPhone is just one of many amazing solutions that is possible. Apple has not created the only possible interface for a touchscreen smart phone.

If people would do more stealing than copying, they would know this.

In the end, it's just sad, because Meizu is missing a great opportunity to create something new and fresh.

I Really Hope Microsoft Has More Than This - If Microsoft wants to even think about competing with Google* - they're going to have to figure out a new business strategy.

I'll be truly surprised and impressed if Microsoft does.

*Yes, I said Microsoft has to compete with Google, not Google has to compete with Microsoft, because Google has changed the rules of the game by offering a Sharepoint and Office alternative that is free AND online.

Microsoft has to play on Google's turf and time is running out.

Game on!

Adobe Pushes DRM for Flash (via) - Ahhhhh damn. Here we go again with the DRM.

MacBook Air stock selling out almost daily? - I really want to keep hearing these reports of the Air being a 'flop'. The naysayers really can't conceive of a person that is so digital that they don't require a DVD drive or an (wired) ethernet connection.

FastCompany.tv - Ummmm. Ok. well, this site is kinda grey ain't it? It also feels very stagnant, like there's not a lot of activity going on here.

...and why must I be welcomed with Scoble's fat gob?

I hope they keep iterating until they get it right.