American presidential debates are one of the most unstructured ways we can watch future presidents respond and react. These debates have far less to do with WHAT they say (which has all been researched and scripted to death) than with HOW and WHEN they say it. How they adapt, how they improvise, how easily they…
I joined Facebook on August 6, 2007 for two reasons: to remain abreast as an interaction designer of what the kids are playing with these days, and to sate my curiosity about the value of the enterprise. Now, just over 5 months later, I am dismantling my Facebook account (which is so much more gratifying…
I don’t like to waste a lot of Clog time talking about user interfaces: one should never sleep in one’s own poop, or whatever that saying is. But I must admit to falling in love with Flock, the self-styled social networking browser. I’m actually writing this post in a Flock pop-out window that will seamlessly…
I never got around to writing Part 2 of my fuck-Apple rant, but I did want to make sure everyone saw that I replaced the offending machine with an even better one. It cost much less, has 4-years of comprehensive no-questions-asked coverage, and makes me very happy. Thank you, Gateway and Samsung, for realizing that…
A few weeks ago my lovely 23″ Apple HD Cinema Display — Apple’s term for a computer monitor — died. Stopped working. Flatline. It was my first and last Apple product. I’d owned the monitor for 2 years and two weeks when it died. The $159 replacement plan I’d bought from CompUSA, where I bought…
Self-reflexive navel-gazing has long been the province of the blogger. “Look at me. I have a microphone. I have an opinion. You should, if not respect it, at least listen to it. Who knows, it might improve your life.” I sometimes wonder if we bloggers are any different from the guy who stands in front…
Tonight, I went to see Superman Returns for the third time. I saw it on IMAX this time, to use up a coupon for a free ticket and to see how IMAX would treat the Man of Steel. IMAX as a reproduction of dramatic movies more popularly viewed on 35MM screens is simply substandard. Since…
You’d think I, a child of the 70MM Dolby era, would be a huge fan of IMAX, which yields images three times the size of 70MM screens and 10 times the size of conventional 35MM screens. For those lovely space or underwater exploration flicks, sure, it can’t be beat. The Super Size culture we live…
My Small Ball co-blogger and good friend Erik has declared that cable is dead. Why? Because iTunes offers The Daily Show, which makes a cable subscription completely unnecessary. Yes, yes, yes. The death of network TV and its slightly more palatable cable sister is long overdue. We all remember when the advent of the world…
Precisely one year ago, I wrote a post called iMadness, in which I celebrated the marketing and design coup of Apple in the portable music arena. At the time, I was certain that I would never buy an iPod, a certainty that hasn’t mellowed a jot with age. I still think they’re overpriced, overrated, and…