June 2007
It occurred to me the other day that Scott McCloud’s point about the web’s infinite canvas applies (and is vastly more important) to annotating physical space. Any given physical location needs both multiple categories of information (e.g. basic information, reviews, history, etc.) and also infinite instances of each. And it’s going to get real messy real fast, given both the variety of data (where’s the nearest bathroom vs. Mark Twain slept here vs. I love this place vs. danger: asbestos!) and the imprecision inherent in this kind of layering (did Mark Twain sleep here or over here or maybe right there?). I don’t see any way to do that other than to open it up and let the world have at it.
The brilliant Alex Wright has just published his first book, Glut: Mastering Information Through the Ages.
In Alex’s words:
The book is about, roughly, the history of information: exploring the ways people have collected, organized and shared their intellectual capital [over] the years. It delves into, among other things, early oral traditions, the invention of writing, classical libraries, medieval alchemy, Victorian bibliography and early computer networks. Ultimately, the book is about the relationship between information technology and social change.
From the early draft I read, I recommend the book very highly. Anyone working in or around information (i.e. you) will undoubtedly learn something new and valuable. Congratulations, Alex!
I’ve been bothered by the raft of mobile informational services that don’t take into account the real context of use. When would I ever want to find something as generic as “pizza” in a given location? OK, maybe ice cream, but still while walking around a city I either want something really specific (e.g. where’s the nearest Blue Bottle coffee) or something more general but of an editorially (or socially) vetted quality (e.g. show me a cool place to read for an hour near here). So, I have to give a shout out to MizPee, which is an old idea (and probably not implemented right), but at least it’s something immediately useful enough to get me to bother with the mobile web.
I was checking out exactitudes (well worth the click if you haven’t seen it before) and, stumbling around google, found a hidden pdf from some class on typologies: check it out (though you’ve probably seen many of the photos before).
It’s been said many times, but oh man does Apple understand the difference between designing products and designing services:
