Herein you’ll find articles on a very wide variety of topics about technology in the consumer space (mostly) and items of personal interest to me. I have also participated in and created several podcasts most notably Pragmatic and Causality and all of my podcasts can be found at The Engineered Network.
Nokia's New Font. We're all really excited. No really.
I realise it’s difficult to describe sarcasm in text form without pointing it out - which in turn derides the fundamental precept of sarcasm in so doing, and I recall my university lecturer lamenting that it was the “lowest form of humour” to which I answered, “You are Sooooo right,” but there you have it. Apologies for the brief digression.
Nokia just announced that “Nokia Pure” is their new standard font to be used throughout their mobile product lines. I’m trying to understand this but I just don’t get how a font which is so remarkably similar to most other fonts can possibly be necessary or value adding. The idea that a font can be a differentiator of sorts can work as identification of a brand. Nokia Sans was iconic as it was all they used in their devices for a long time. However if I saw Nokia Sans on a poster my mind wouldn’t leap to “hey, that’s Nokia’s font it must be a Nokia related poster” but rather - oh, it spelled the word “xxx, that’s nice”. I am not a font nut, font lover, font-ist? Nor are the majority of the worlds population. The majority of the population simply don’t care. If they can read it, then it works.
It’s clear that Nokia want to make their new phones different from everyone elses but still use Windows Phone 7 as their core and that’s fine. I can’t help but think there were better ways to expend their time and resources on more significant and more impactful advancements for their platform.
Opinions About Opinions Aren't Worth Reading or Writing
I recently had an epiphany. It came to me when listening to a podcast where two gentlemen (using the term very loosely) were yelling obscenities at each other as they criticised tech journalist opinion columns and tech reviews of products. I realised that there are essentially two types of Tech Journalism: 1) Reviews, discussions and predictions of how a product works and performs [or may work and perform] and 2) Opinions regarding articles from type 1.
After much internal debate I have decided on a new policy: Tech Distortion shall endeavour to not post opinion articles about other opinions. I have broken this new rule (retrospectively) only twice that I see here and here. I may refer to opinion articles to provide context but that’s it.
If the internet with blogging and journalism continues to produce sites that merely comment on other peoples opinions then surely there will eventually be a feedback loop whereby a single article creates an endless series of responses that are opinions of opinions of opinions that in the end aren’t worth reading, much less writing in the first place. It may well be that some posts aren’t worth reading after the first opinion about an opinion - certainly true of the podcast that caused my epiphany.
It’s done. It’s out there. Wish me luck. Trying not to be like the rest of them.
Email Tech Distortion if breaches to my new self-imposed code of conduct are documented from this date forward.
The Trend Towards Everyone Wins A Prize
I now have two children in two sports - their sports aren’t relevant but the way in which awards are given has recently piqued my interest. When I was young the only people that received a medal, trophy or certificate where those who had completed a specific test/exam and had excellent marks or been the winner or in the winning team. If you were an average player or were just there to make up the numbers then chances are you didn’t get a trophy or a prize. The trend currently seems to be changing such that everyone wins a prize - even if you do not win, or succeed, or even contribute.
I have heard (okay, I can’t find a link to a verifiable, trustworthy source so going with anecdotal) that psychologists have found that not getting a prize is a source of disappointment and can cause feelings of inadequacy in a child (which can then lead to a host of other problems) and have even heard parents applauding the idea basing it on the idea that their child walks away with something to show for their efforts - irrespective of how well they performed. The problem I have is simple: Kids aren’t stupid and they know the difference as they get older between a “participation” trophy and “fastest”, “best”, “winner” trophies. When it happens in the school yard, “hey look everyone I got this great participation trophy…” is an expression sure to lead to some degree of pecking from those who have the more “sought-after” trophies. Suddenly the idea of “Everyone Wins a Prize” becomes exactly like the difference between two adults comparing their annual income which is an exercise that will almost always leave one party feeling hard done by.
It’s a quaint idea for sure and younger kids seem to like it - at least initially. Long term the effect seems to be less pronounced and at worst achieves little or nothing of what it was originally intended. Life is full of disappointments as well as successes. Learning to handle the bad stuff as well as the good is part of growing as a person and everyone needs to do it. Adding “Everyone Wins A Prize” mentalities will not teach the children anything other than to expect a shiny hand out at their next awards night irrespective of how they behaved or performed.
Note: I am not a trained psychologist nor do I know any nor do I want to know any.
What's good for hype isn't always good for customers
Apple just launched the iPad 2 in Australia with huge lines outside major retailers but primarily the Apple Stores around the country. The queues were anecdotally longer than the iPad 1 queues and showed an undeniable demand for the iPad 2. Well that’s great. The problem I have with this is that Apple knew they would have an extremely limited supply on hand - as little as a few hundred for each Apple Store and some reports have suggested retailers like JB HiFi barely had 20 in stock.
The TV camera crews were out at some Apple Store locations getting the customary footage of yet another hit Apple device being queued for and giving Apple free PR. How though is this good for the end customer? People have busy lives and generally Apple products aren’t cheap so the average person in line waiting will have a good source of income and they need to take time away from work to stand in a line all day. Oddly, potentially losing them money they could have used to buy more Apple products. (They could be retired too and spending their kids inheritance - which is fine too but then usually that makes them older people and whatever your age who wants to stand in line for hours or days to get an Apple product - seriously who looks forward to it?)
The ideal customer experience would be to order one ahead of time and know it was guaranteed for you and then come in an pick it up whenever you were ready. If you wanted to stand in a queue you could but most people wouldn’t. If Apple did that (which they did do for some other of their products but they had greater stock on hand) the queues would have been shorter and less PR is a lost opportunity.
I understand that Apple is a business and business is business but eventually (if not already) limited quantity launches and hand to mouth production to sales methodologies (you still need to book in a week in advance to get an iPhone 4 at an Apple Store and there’s a month wait at most Telstra shops for one) will drive temperamental or impatient customers to buy the oppositions tablet/phone where there are no queues, plenty of stock, and salespeople only too happy to help separate them from their money.
I’m not sure I completely buy into Apples claim that they’re making them as fast as they can though I do believe they’re selling everything they make. It’s good for warehousing (or lack thereof since it’s not really needed in that case) but other manufacturers are producing tablets from similar components so Apple appears to be simply managing their own supply chains to minimise stock on hand. Again - that’s great for business and great for hype but how is it good for the customer?