Developing Usable Experiences

“Do you have an IPhone?”

October 6th, 2008 11:31 am —  27 views

…a classmate offhandedly asks me during a meeting yesterday.

No, I don’t have an IPhone. I kind of want one though. Not because Apple makes it or because it’s slim and sexy. It’s more than that. It’s more about my connection to the innerwebs, the innernets, the Net, the Web, the collective, the netmind, the “whatever you want to call it” thing you’re using to read this blog post1.

Being able to Google something quickly, easily, from almost anywhere2. Being able to tap into the social knowing that goes on all over forums, blogs, and other near real-time social type network things like Facebook, Twitter, Delicious, etc. Having access to so much of information, just waiting for me to give it context.

Witnessing evidence of presence from friends, family, classmates, coworkers, etc. via online services…these are things I value very much. And miss when I don’t have. I see the IPhone as device which goes further than others in giving me this kind of access.

Makes me realize that active involvement, interaction, engagement…is necessary for the nets to provide meaning. Moreover, it is the  pursuit of information for a purpose that brings us here. Be it to entertain, stay connected, or exploit, nobody forces us online…to this page, to be reading these words. Volition and access numbering in the billions is growing and changing what it means to research, learn, discover, and know. Welcome to the Internation.

W. and just got back from exploring Chicago for our anniversary and had a great time. I’ll get a post together soon sharing some of that experience and pictures we took.

Image: This was taken from the sky deck of the Sears tower in Chicago, shortly after sunset. After this W. and I went to this impressive Italian restaurant and paid way too much for dinner. But that’s Chicago for ya.

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  1. You could be reading a printed copy, looking at a slurped RSS feed, viewing a saved text file even…that might change it a little, but I’m considering that a crazy minority of you. [↩]
  2. Except maybe large swamps, oceans, or vast stretches of desert [↩]

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One Response to ““Do you have an IPhone?””

  1. Dawn on October 6th, 2008 5:21 pm

    Very cool picture…I thought it was taken from a plane! :) Happy Anniversary!

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