I’ve long held the belief that simplicity is the key to good design & engineering. This does not mean simple equals useless. My favorite Einstein quote sums it up quite well “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.” I often find it is much harder to simplify, rather than complicate. I say, simplify for the challange.
37signals has based their business model on simple. Brilliant. In evaluating their philosophy, I came to realize that simple can really be applied to more than design, here it is applied to business. Why not entertainment? Why not taste? Why not style? Why not life? Why not?
Time magazine has a poll for the 100 most influential people of the year. What disturbs me is the people at the top of the poll; Steven Colbert is #1 at the time of writing this post. Have a look at the top 5, in the order of most “influence” we have a comedian (Colbert), a game designer (Shigeru Miyamoto), a mediocre novelist (J.K. Rowling), a 19 year old hockey player (Sidney Crosby), and a singer (Bono).
What gives? I feel people of real worth should be up there. Now, I know what you’re thinking, Bono has made some great political statements, and I would agree - Bono deserves a spot in the top 100, number 5? I’m not so sure. But how does he take backseat to a hockey player? To a comedian? To a game designer? To a novelist? They are entertainers, no more. If that is who “influences” you, then we’re in trouble, big trouble.
Take a close look at the list, and ask; do these people deserve a spot on the list? In my estimation, there are only 2 people in the top 10 who deserve to be in the 100 at all, Bono and Steve Jobs. The others? Entertainment, nothing more. I’m dissapointed to say the least. My pick for the top 5? Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, Ben Bernanke (thanks to Robert for pointing out his complete absence from the top 200), Bill Clinton, and Nicholas Negroponte, at the time of writing numbers 17, 32, ???, 45 and 66 respectively.
In a perfect example of antiquated copyright processes, WKRP in Cincinnati is being released on DVD today with muzak being central to the soundtrack, not classics like the rolling stones, talking heads, pink floyd and the like. I suggest a boycott of this release. Read more at the long tail and wikipedia. Shame, damn shame.
We are living in a great time to be alive. Cliche? Yes. True? Absolutely, and it’s getting better by the minute - with media distribution costs being next to zero there has never been a better time to be alive as a life long learner.
With education initiatives like the OpenCourseWare Consortium which include MIT OpenCourseWare - which has opened up their course material online, free. As a machinery enthusiast this is brilliant, MIT has one of the best Mechanical Engineering programs in the world. Connexions is a collaborative project made up of knowledge modules that can be used to make a custom course, also free.
This week TED launched their new website based around their conference talks. Released under the Creative Commons licence, giving free access to their otherwise unavailable talks. TED is an annual conference held in Monterrey California, with talks by some of “the worlds greatest thinkers and doers”, attending the conference is by invite only. LIFT has done the same, albeit the content is technology specific.
Where does this leave us? In a great position to accelerate the learning process. Couple this with mass collaboration we will see accelerated development of original thought, science, technology, and products. I look forward to the next years in the growth of accessible high quality materials such as those listed above. Revolution anyone?
Here is Richard Baraniuk with his talk on open source education and Connexions at TED 2006:
I mentioned this project in an earlier post. Openmoko looks promising, a good price point at US$350 - considering the iPhone is priced at US$499 (4GB model) and US$599 (8GB model) both on 2 year contracts. Market release for the openmoko is scheduled for September 2007, developer kits are scheduled for late April release and claimed to be on target. Go here to the community portal, and here for an introduction to the project. You don’t have to be a developer to get involved, go to the wishlist and make some suggestions if you like. This could revolutionize the cell phone market if successfull, I’ll be watching this project closely.
F1 engines are engineering masterpieces. Exotic materials, manufacturing processes, and electronic controls. At 19,000rpm piston speeds approach 40 meters per second and accelerations of 10,000g’s. Here’s a vid of the Arrows F1 team putting on a little show. Looks like the map is running slightly rich, the exhaust pipes are made of inconel, the flames are caused by unburnt fuel contacting the atmosphere, due to high air/fuel ratio and high exhaust velocities. Naturally aspirated 2.4 liter V10 900+bhp, sheer beauty.
The web 2.0, is this the future of education, culture, business and innovation? I feel it is, I just read Wikinomics, an excellent book full of case studies of mass collaboration, give it a read if you’re at all interested in business and/or technology. To state the obvious, the world is changing; the question is, evolution or revolution? Some interesting collaborative projects include a smart phone and a car.
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As an artificial limb designer and hobbyist robotics engineer, artist Christopher Conte rarely uses blueprints or sketches to craft his elaborate biomechanical sculptures.
