When Is It Time To Unplug?
A few days ago Facebook unveiled it’s new location based sharing service, Places. Essentially, when a user is at any specific location, they can “check in” via Places, which then shares their location with their friends on Facebook. Location based sharing like this has existed for quite some time already in the form of Foursquare and within sites like Yelp, Gowalla, and Booyah. All of the aforementioned sites have partnered with Facebook and integrated Places into their sites so that checking in on any site will check you in on all of them. Chris Cox, VP of Facebook, described Places as a service that would help bring alive locations with technology during the unveiling of Places at a Facebook press event. He described how content shared on Facebook now could be identified by location. “Now … those stories are going to be pinned to a physical location” One of the biggest questions raised in the initial response to the new service is how large businesses can integrate their location into already existing pages on Facebook, which is a part of Facebook’s goal for what Places eventually will evolve into. Both Chris Cox and Mark Zuckerberg expressed interest in integrating Places more fluidly into Facebook after seeing what the general response is like.
After reading and hearing about Places, my initial thoughts are: Why does any of this matter? How valid are the incentives for users to actually use Places? And when is it time for us to unplug from technology and experience the world without the aid of a anything digital?
Read MoreThe ‘Technology’ of Francois Roche
When French architect Francois Roche was asked, “What project has given you the most satisfaction?” he replied: ”Any project where I can tell a story.” When Roche was asked, “When you were a child, did you want to become an architect?” He replied, “Of course not, it’s not a vocation. I hate that.”
[Excerpt from interview at Designboom]
Read MoreThe Sustainability of Digital Maps
“Digital View Terminal” in the subway of Seoul, Korea
There are currently countless printed maps in production. Maps are sold individually, packaged with guide and travel books, printed on small convenient cards, and distributed in almost every format imaginable. In the past ten years, there has been a surge in development of digitizing maps for digital navigation technology. With the use of many of these personal navigation technologies, it is possible to always know exactly where you are and exactly where you’re going. However, one of the best advantages of these new digital navigation systems is their sustainability. With the growth of both personal devices and public systems that provide digital navigation technology, there is no longer a need for the unsustainable mass production and distribution of physical maps.
Read More