> I don't want this to be mistaken for a story about web design. If you squint, you will find the same set of tradeoffs in all manner of creative work and systems thinking
Lots of comments about literal maps and then web design. This generalization of the idea quoted above made me think of something I believe about technological convergence (putting everything into phones and tablets). We’re losing the way custom made devices for different purposes were able to optimize for one purpose. I was thinking of the alarm-clock/radio (which itself is a converged device, it loses benefits of a wind up alarm clock and the benefits of a dedicated radio) vs just using your phone as an alarm clock and music/news player. For one thing, the alarm clock has the time always visible. For another, the radio is instantly available with a single click. And that’s just one of a hundred things that have been converged into the phone (starting with the actual telephone).
I’ve been working on learning to build my own small computers. Part of it is that each one could be for a unique purpose and designed accordingly. (Circuitry, buttons, etc.) Thinking about it like thus article, one could go further and not limit each application to being “a computer” at all.
Lots of comments about literal maps and then web design. This generalization of the idea quoted above made me think of something I believe about technological convergence (putting everything into phones and tablets). We’re losing the way custom made devices for different purposes were able to optimize for one purpose. I was thinking of the alarm-clock/radio (which itself is a converged device, it loses benefits of a wind up alarm clock and the benefits of a dedicated radio) vs just using your phone as an alarm clock and music/news player. For one thing, the alarm clock has the time always visible. For another, the radio is instantly available with a single click. And that’s just one of a hundred things that have been converged into the phone (starting with the actual telephone).
I’ve been working on learning to build my own small computers. Part of it is that each one could be for a unique purpose and designed accordingly. (Circuitry, buttons, etc.) Thinking about it like thus article, one could go further and not limit each application to being “a computer” at all.