Johann   page 165

What is the point of displaying the current floor inside an elevator? 99.9% of the time the trip is short anyway, without the elevator getting stuck or anything else that would make this information necessary. Why are we not seeing more minimalistic, compelling elevator designs that respond to what most people need in most situations? And why should food have a list of ingredients when most people never look at it?

Nobody user said "This website is nice, I just wish it would scroll more smoothly.. but I don't really care how other websites scroll.". No, either they want their browser/OS to scroll smoothly always, or don't care, and would never notice either way. It's the marketing mindset that makes people think they should improve the facade of their offering a little by whatever means necessary as quickly as possible, to get ahead or even to dazzle people - instead of improving the baseline for all in a way that is as functional as necessary, and as beautiful as possible while not sacrificing said functionality.

And thus we end up with a jungle of Javascript gimmicks, and browser tabs that eat memory like candy. The notion that HTML mostly describes content, while the configuration of the user agent has the final say on the actual presentation? "Nice idea, but the marketing department doesn't like it."

http://a.sandboxx.org/johann/photos/tx/persons/tag/Lisa/

Remember the idea that the user agent decides how to render a page? Accessibility is important, but it's not all: we already settled with and got used to making and consuming websites aimed at manipulating the user, either in a friendly, fun way, or in more sinister ways.

If the textures and fonts, the shape and colors of buttons (or "calls to action", as people who enjoy making me puke in my mouth a little call it) are really that essential to "the experience", what does that say about what people are actually writing?

I am not a writer, not even a bad one; but take the collection of quotes I keep accumulating: you may find them wise or tacky, but at any rate, it doesn't fucking matter what the colors or fonts are, as long as it's somewhat readable. Yet we are now in an age where a person can conceivably utter a phrase like "compelling use of fonts" and not even blush.

Just like power, the people who want it the most are the ones using it worst.

fast
alles was du sagst sagst du nur weil's nicht wahr ist - be-
schmutzt beats wie Edding-Tags 'n piece nur weil es da ist - du
kommst nie zum rappen rappst ständig über Rap sagst du
bist toll im bett doch rauchst nur die Zigarette
punch lines? du panschst Wein - ranzig geschleimt
Alben eins wie's and're sagst - man darf gespannt sein
geht nicht - ist eklig - zu ähnlich - zu öde Mode-
puppe Automodel böse Blicke sind nur blöde -

Technik als Selbstzweck Ersatz für Substanz - im La-
bor gemachte Hektik verdeckt den Stillstand - Pro-
dukte die nicht taugen halten oder sich glauben - jedes
Promo für's nächste - nur für Zuschaueraugen - schon
ist es buchstäblich Nuscheln Alk Hustensaft - Indu-
strien pushen dumm Luschen machen's gerne nach -
im Schlaraffenland Krieg - noch unbekannt hack'n mit
Neid vollgepumpte Leute aufeinander - Du

schreist fick die Bull'n peil' ma' du bist die Bull'n spielst doch
auch nur 'nen Part - in 'nem Spiel das and're woll'n - ge-
striegelt auf vergammelt - auf wild und animalisch -
alles ist erlaubt nur nur zu denken geht gar nicht -
jedem scheißen sie in's Hirn doch manche wollen Nachtisch
lernen die Rezepte auswendig - fanatisch - je
weniger sie checken desto höher wird gestapelt - ver-
unsichert von kleinauf von sich selbst abgenabelt

We're still happy to be in search, believe me. But one idea is that more and more searches are done on your behalf without you needing to type. I actually think most people don't want Google to answer their questions. They want Google to tell them what they should be doing next.

Eric Schmidt

http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2010/08/eric-schmidt-on-future-of-search.html

You know how in ancient times people who figured out how to predict an eclipse went on to play big boy with their oh so advanced, magic knowledge, and had that go to their head? We still live in those times.