Are the behemoths AT&T, Walmart and Royal Bank of Scotland more ethical than Carrefour or Credit Agricole? According to research, they are perceived so. Researchers at Erasmus University’s Rotterdam School of Management have done research that seems to show a relationship between ethics and symmetry. While this obviously bears no impact on the reality of these organizations, it is interesting to think about instinctive reactions an audience can have to an image, or a logo.
A video showing a two and a half years old girl’s first encounter with the iPad. Although we can’t prove it was really her first encounter, it is indeed shocking to see the ease with which she figures out some of the interface elements on her own, notably the swipe across the home screen, and the maximizing.
Much has been said about the iPad’s potential as an educational tool, and clearly this is something Apple is banking on in promoting heavily academically-minded apps such as Elements. It will also be interesting to see what effects a more elemental, basic interface (touch VS keyboard and mouse) has on other aspects of computing and learning.
If computers keep increasing in simplicity, will we still need ‘Computer Classes’? What other apps will be able to bridge the gap and between complex notions (science, maths, spelling) and kids with increasingly short attention-span.
Traditional media and the journalism industry are scrambling to locate a profitable business model. Many companies are trying a shotgun approach to target the wide-ranging, flowering market of digital devices and platforms, hoping to chance upon a model that will work across its increasingly fragmented audience.
While this method may be fine, many companies are losing track of the actual value audiences have come to expect. Any user of the New York Times’ iPhone application, one of the very first to be released in the App Store less than 2 years ago, probably knows what I mean.
While the original releases received much grief for their poor speed and propensity to bugs, the current New York Times app is quite dependable and speedy, and offers a suitable selection of features.
The main pitfall lies in the interface itself, which, despite following the Apple-issued iPhone application guidelines closely, fails to provide the chief curatorial benefit of the paper’s design with the omission of the mythical Frontpage.
In its slow but certain ascension to overthrow television, and as the de facto medium for viewing videos online, YouTube still lacks many of the subtlety and forethought some of its competition has implemented. Some of of those lapses are simply silly.
When one subscribes to someone’s (or some organization’s) content, they are given a notification: “Your subscription to ‘ChannelName’ has been added. Edit subscription”
Big Yellow button is appealing. I click it.
I'm a confirmed subscriber. Yay.
All good, right.
But, as a valued subscriber, next time you watch their content, you’re given the same treatment as if you had not. If you click the ‘Subscribe’ button, you’re told that “You are already subscribed to ChannelName”. Just don’t offer it then!