Comments on: Talk at Lift07: Embracing the Real World’s Messiness http://liftlab.com/think/fabien/2007/02/11/talk-at-lift07-embracing-the-real-worlds-messiness/ Fabien Girardin Sat, 05 Jul 2008 22:53:02 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=wordpress-mu-1.2.1 By: Larry Irons http://liftlab.com/think/fabien/2007/02/11/talk-at-lift07-embracing-the-real-worlds-messiness/#comment-339296 Larry Irons Wed, 25 Jun 2008 15:22:06 +0000 http://liftlab.com/think/fabien/2007/02/11/talk-at-lift07-embracing-the-real-worlds-messiness/#comment-339296 Fabien, I appreciate the mention. Messiness is an apt term for the topic, though I'd suggest the term cuts both ways. The "visionaries" who advocate for seamless ubicomp enviornments, I would argue, consider the user messy and too often aim to take their decisions out of the situation in the name of "personalization". The point of view is implied in the paternalistic concept that seams are just too much information overload for the poor user. A seam is always a point of control, or power. It doesn't take a software engineer to know that seams never disappear in seamless interfaces, they just become unavailable to users. The whole mess is directly analogous to the early expert systems debate about whether those artificial intelligence applications were suited best to give advice to users making decisions, or make the decisions for the users. Fabien, I appreciate the mention. Messiness is an apt term for the topic, though I’d suggest the term cuts both ways. The “visionaries” who advocate for seamless ubicomp enviornments, I would argue, consider the user messy and too often aim to take their decisions out of the situation in the name of “personalization”. The point of view is implied in the paternalistic concept that seams are just too much information overload for the poor user. A seam is always a point of control, or power. It doesn’t take a software engineer to know that seams never disappear in seamless interfaces, they just become unavailable to users.

The whole mess is directly analogous to the early expert systems debate about whether those artificial intelligence applications were suited best to give advice to users making decisions, or make the decisions for the users.

]]> By: 7.5th Floor » Blog Archive » The Hybrid City by Phil Hubbard http://liftlab.com/think/fabien/2007/02/11/talk-at-lift07-embracing-the-real-worlds-messiness/#comment-336619 7.5th Floor » Blog Archive » The Hybrid City by Phil Hubbard Tue, 13 May 2008 05:04:49 +0000 http://liftlab.com/think/fabien/2007/02/11/talk-at-lift07-embracing-the-real-worlds-messiness/#comment-336619 [...] that new technologies may not be more profound than those which preceded them and as previously argumented and published: The tendency to talk of new technologies in hyperbolic terms in unfortunate. One [...] […] that new technologies may not be more profound than those which preceded them and as previously argumented and published: The tendency to talk of new technologies in hyperbolic terms in unfortunate. One […]

]]> By: 7.5th Floor » Blog Archive » A Pure Sliding Friction Moment http://liftlab.com/think/fabien/2007/02/11/talk-at-lift07-embracing-the-real-worlds-messiness/#comment-333207 7.5th Floor » Blog Archive » A Pure Sliding Friction Moment Sun, 30 Mar 2008 13:11:34 +0000 http://liftlab.com/think/fabien/2007/02/11/talk-at-lift07-embracing-the-real-worlds-messiness/#comment-333207 [...] to my thesis: I now ditched the argumentation on messiness, but keep enjoying observing and recording moments of sliding friction. In that sense, this [...] […] to my thesis: I now ditched the argumentation on messiness, but keep enjoying observing and recording moments of sliding friction. In that sense, this […]

]]> By: links for 2008-03-09 : ITP AlumniBlender http://liftlab.com/think/fabien/2007/02/11/talk-at-lift07-embracing-the-real-worlds-messiness/#comment-331680 links for 2008-03-09 : ITP AlumniBlender Mon, 10 Mar 2008 00:34:44 +0000 http://liftlab.com/think/fabien/2007/02/11/talk-at-lift07-embracing-the-real-worlds-messiness/#comment-331680 [...] 7.5th Floor » Blog Archive » Talk at Lift07: Embracing the Real World’s Messiness "I rather preferred taking the role of the observer of the current integration of sensor technologies in our everyday life in order to question the seamlessness and calmness visions in ubiquitous computing." [...] […] 7.5th Floor » Blog Archive » Talk at Lift07: Embracing the Real World’s Messiness “I rather preferred taking the role of the observer of the current integration of sensor technologies in our everyday life in order to question the seamlessness and calmness visions in ubiquitous computing.” […]

]]> By: 7.5th Floor » Blog Archive » Ubiquitous computing: visions, failures and new interaction rituals http://liftlab.com/think/fabien/2007/02/11/talk-at-lift07-embracing-the-real-worlds-messiness/#comment-328564 7.5th Floor » Blog Archive » Ubiquitous computing: visions, failures and new interaction rituals Thu, 17 Jan 2008 18:33:31 +0000 http://liftlab.com/think/fabien/2007/02/11/talk-at-lift07-embracing-the-real-worlds-messiness/#comment-328564 [...] Relation to my thesis: a collaborative follow-up from last year’s monologue at LIFT. [...] […] Relation to my thesis: a collaborative follow-up from last year’s monologue at LIFT. […]

]]> By: 7.5th Floor » Blog Archive » Questioning Ubiquitous Computing http://liftlab.com/think/fabien/2007/02/11/talk-at-lift07-embracing-the-real-worlds-messiness/#comment-319550 7.5th Floor » Blog Archive » Questioning Ubiquitous Computing Mon, 24 Sep 2007 19:48:51 +0000 http://liftlab.com/think/fabien/2007/02/11/talk-at-lift07-embracing-the-real-worlds-messiness/#comment-319550 [...] to my thesis: This paper proved to be a rather timely reading (in continuation to train of thought started earlier this year at LIFT). From what I have seen in Innsbruck, these topics are still [...] […] to my thesis: This paper proved to be a rather timely reading (in continuation to train of thought started earlier this year at LIFT). From what I have seen in Innsbruck, these topics are still […]

]]> By: Echelle 1:1 et représentation grandeur nature « Cartographier les nouveaux territoires http://liftlab.com/think/fabien/2007/02/11/talk-at-lift07-embracing-the-real-worlds-messiness/#comment-209253 Echelle 1:1 et représentation grandeur nature « Cartographier les nouveaux territoires Mon, 30 Apr 2007 21:48:32 +0000 http://liftlab.com/think/fabien/2007/02/11/talk-at-lift07-embracing-the-real-worlds-messiness/#comment-209253 [...] N’oublions pas que Borges mentionne deux états de la carte à échelle 1:1 : le projet abouti de l’empereur et les ruines qu’a laissées celui-ci après son abandon. La carte 1:1 numérique est un projet. Ce projet procède du mouvement naturel d’Internet qui est, comme l’écrit D. Kaplan décrit dans un autre texte très juste, de tout connecter et de descendre dans l’espace physique pour doter chacune de ses composantes d’une “aura numériqueâ€?, en interaction potentielle avec toutes les autres”. Mais, comme il le montre, ce projet de l’interconnexion parfaite, censé produire un ordre technologique rationnel, est maintenant assez avancé pour qu’on devine qu’il n’est vraisemblablement qu’un rêve (ou un cauchemar). On a nommé les computers des ordinateurs en français car la fonction supposée de ces nouvelles machines était de mettre de l’ordre dans le monde. Ils ont pourtant contribué, autant sinon plus, à l’émergence de désordre, d’inattendu et d’irrationnel. Peut-on vraiment considérer les sociétés du temps de l’informatique comme plus ordonnées et plus prévisibles que celles qui les ont procédées ? Fabien Girardin dans sa communication à la conférence Lift 2007 et Hubert Guillaud dans le billet d’Internet Actu qui en rend compte questionnent la possibilité de construire des systèmes informatiques sans couture, sans coupure et sans panne. Ils mettent aussi en doute notre souhait profond de vivre dans un monde lisse, piloté par une technologie omniprésente, invisible, parfaite et sans bruit. Il est donc fort possible que dans les “empires” de demain cohabiteront plusieurs projets de Cartes Numériques Démesurées et Dilatées toutes inconciliables entre elles, ainsi que les ruines de nombreux autres projets inaboutis et abandonnés. Et cela ne sera pas forcément un mal. [...] […] N’oublions pas que Borges mentionne deux états de la carte à échelle 1:1 : le projet abouti de l’empereur et les ruines qu’a laissées celui-ci après son abandon. La carte 1:1 numérique est un projet. Ce projet procède du mouvement naturel d’Internet qui est, comme l’écrit D. Kaplan décrit dans un autre texte très juste, de tout connecter et de descendre dans l’espace physique pour doter chacune de ses composantes d’une “aura numériqueâ€?, en interaction potentielle avec toutes les autres”. Mais, comme il le montre, ce projet de l’interconnexion parfaite, censé produire un ordre technologique rationnel, est maintenant assez avancé pour qu’on devine qu’il n’est vraisemblablement qu’un rêve (ou un cauchemar). On a nommé les computers des ordinateurs en français car la fonction supposée de ces nouvelles machines était de mettre de l’ordre dans le monde. Ils ont pourtant contribué, autant sinon plus, à l’émergence de désordre, d’inattendu et d’irrationnel. Peut-on vraiment considérer les sociétés du temps de l’informatique comme plus ordonnées et plus prévisibles que celles qui les ont procédées ? Fabien Girardin dans sa communication à la conférence Lift 2007 et Hubert Guillaud dans le billet d’Internet Actu qui en rend compte questionnent la possibilité de construire des systèmes informatiques sans couture, sans coupure et sans panne. Ils mettent aussi en doute notre souhait profond de vivre dans un monde lisse, piloté par une technologie omniprésente, invisible, parfaite et sans bruit. Il est donc fort possible que dans les “empires” de demain cohabiteront plusieurs projets de Cartes Numériques Démesurées et Dilatées toutes inconciliables entre elles, ainsi que les ruines de nombreux autres projets inaboutis et abandonnés. Et cela ne sera pas forcément un mal. […]

]]> By: Ben Kraal http://liftlab.com/think/fabien/2007/02/11/talk-at-lift07-embracing-the-real-worlds-messiness/#comment-189544 Ben Kraal Fri, 13 Apr 2007 02:21:20 +0000 http://liftlab.com/think/fabien/2007/02/11/talk-at-lift07-embracing-the-real-worlds-messiness/#comment-189544 I've just watched the video and I had to say that I really enjoyed your presentation. I’ve just watched the video and I had to say that I really enjoyed your presentation.

]]> By: Brain Off » Lift Post-Process http://liftlab.com/think/fabien/2007/02/11/talk-at-lift07-embracing-the-real-worlds-messiness/#comment-98473 Brain Off » Lift Post-Process Tue, 13 Feb 2007 16:13:56 +0000 http://liftlab.com/think/fabien/2007/02/11/talk-at-lift07-embracing-the-real-worlds-messiness/#comment-98473 [...] Had many discussions on OpenStreetMap. It’s highly regarded conceptually, but practically not many people have had the stomach for it. The workshops are there to address this steep learning curve, shoulder to shoulder style, but there are definitely much to be done on usability and engaging with multiple technical levels. The sparodic connectivity of the devices themselves, in Geneva’s urban canyons, had participants puzzled and it makes me realized that GPS receivers are not well designed for this at all .. they’re either for navigation or passive recording .. not the active recording of OSM. Fabien Giradin’s talk on Embracing the Real Worlds Messiness resonated strongly here .. we need to design the OSM experience to account for when it breaks, and things like the Yahoo Imagery helps greatly. Like Jan Chipchase, he has a strong eye for environmental details which reveal hidden truths, like English Sinks. As computers pervade more of life, strange interactions and broken infrastructure will become more common not less. I want to “Play with Noise and Disorder” and may draw up some maps of GPS reception strength here in Brighton. Fabien ended by comparing “seamless” design to strong AI, and asked “do we really want to live in a calm world?” (no, we seem to desire messiness). [...] […] Had many discussions on OpenStreetMap. It’s highly regarded conceptually, but practically not many people have had the stomach for it. The workshops are there to address this steep learning curve, shoulder to shoulder style, but there are definitely much to be done on usability and engaging with multiple technical levels. The sparodic connectivity of the devices themselves, in Geneva’s urban canyons, had participants puzzled and it makes me realized that GPS receivers are not well designed for this at all .. they’re either for navigation or passive recording .. not the active recording of OSM. Fabien Giradin’s talk on Embracing the Real Worlds Messiness resonated strongly here .. we need to design the OSM experience to account for when it breaks, and things like the Yahoo Imagery helps greatly. Like Jan Chipchase, he has a strong eye for environmental details which reveal hidden truths, like English Sinks. As computers pervade more of life, strange interactions and broken infrastructure will become more common not less. I want to “Play with Noise and Disorder” and may draw up some maps of GPS reception strength here in Brighton. Fabien ended by comparing “seamless” design to strong AI, and asked “do we really want to live in a calm world?” (no, we seem to desire messiness). […]

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