Digital Culture Studies

I just got a new computer, an early birthday present, to replace my old desktop, itself a birthday present, albeit seven years ago. Seven years! But it was a Hewlett Packard, and they aren’t known for being particularly upgradeable, and it was time. My new box is a big monster, with an nicely integrated media centre, a DVD burner, and enough memory to make my own movies, should I want to. Which I might, given how small and portable digital cameras have become.

I am not particularly brand consistent when it comes to electronics - I buy what works for me, which is why I am a PC user with an Ipod, and why my monitor is made by a different company than my computer. What I do know, though, is that I don’t think I will buy another HP product. And here is why - HP’s new cameras, with a ’slimming’ feature. (found via Bitch, PhD)

First of all, hello - isn’t that what Photoshop is for? :)

But more seriously, I have some issues with this, starting with the fact that the female model used to demonstrate the product is already a slim and healthy size. When I see gadgets, I always wonder who they are being designed for. This past week, I was fortunate to be able to hear Brenda Laurel speak about design (off topic, but do read her rant, Saving It For Good, which is inspiring me to one day work up the courage to serve a meal on my grandmother’s china, which I inherited and that I am too afraid to use). Something that really jumped out at me was what she had to say about getting to know who you were designing for - not what you think you know, not the stereotype about soccer moms and skater bois, but about who the people who are going to use your design really are, what they need, and what they want.

I had started writing this post before I saw Ms. Laurel speak, and was already less than impressed with HP’s new product, but now - now, I am nearly speechless. And I wonder … who, exactly, did HP design this camera for? This camera, that screws up the perspective of one’s photos for the opportunity to stretch subjects vertically in a vain attempt to make them thinner. Who did they think the target market was?
As for Photoshop, if you, like me, spend a lot of time watching it load, you probably know who Seetharaman Narayanan is - his is one of the names credited on the openin screen. But did you know there is a Flickr fan club devoted to him? (Link via Unbeige). I love the internet.

Hmmm……don’t these remind you an awful lot of the original ugly dolls?

I am typing this with 28.7 lbs of drooling spaniel in my lap. I wonder if keyboard manufacturers take these kind of real world specs into account when they design keyboards?

But I digress. Luckily, these links are always on target:

The Rage Diaries: always a smart take on issues.

Pop Culture Junk Mail: other than her complete obsession with the comic, For Better or for Worse, Gael is Good People!

I am trying to get a widget to work in the sidebar - one that would link to what I am reading - but am having no success. Ah, techonology….I love ya until you fail me.

In the meantime, some fun links rattling around my del.icio.us account.

1. Post Secret updates every Sunday, and it does not archive content, so if you miss a week, you miss a week. I find that a refreshing change to most online projects, even though the OCD in me is peeved that I missed a few weeks and now can never know what I missed. MY GOD! It is like life before answering machines, VCRs and TIVO. Primitive!

2. Enclosures. I spend a lot of time in bookstores, and in used bookstores, and I love blogs that pinpoint one tiny slice of human experience and turn a bright light on it. Myself, I always feel like I have to leave these little slips of paper in the books that I buy, at the pages they have lived between for so long, which is why some of my cookbooks have recipe pages marked with the birth notices and obituaries of people I have never met.

3. One Sentence. True stories, told in one sentence.

4. Bar Camp. Not, as you might assume, where bartenders go to learn how to spin bottles over the back of their hand without breaking them in the ice, but instead a new kind of conference, one that breaks down the barriers between attendee and presenter.