Pitos Blog

Welcome! If you're interested in the same kind of things I am, consider adding this site to your favorites, or better yet, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed (using BlogBridge, of course) . Welcome, and thanks for visiting!

Following on on my post yesterday about “What we don’t understand.”

As I was writing it, I was trying to use examples of simple things that just work without handholding, like an old dial telephone. Oh there’s an example. But did you notice how all the old examples are slowly falling away because they are also becoming too complex?

• Cellphone: Ok it just works, but look at how fat the manual is. What percentage of users know how to use what percentage of the features
• Television: Oops. Do you have the right remote? Wow the picture’s on but no sound! Oh wait, the sound is for Channel 5 but the picture is the DVD
• Camera: Again, just weigh the manual
• iPhone: Forget about it. Yes it’s easy for a technophile.  But multi touch? Press and hold?

No I am not underestimating the abilities of people out there. I claim that normal intelligent people are being asked to become technicians and geeks just to survive.

It shouldn’t be rocket surgery.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Dave Winer wrote a bit recently called “What we don’t understand” that lists all the ways in which computers are still so confusing, not only to our elders but also to many others who’s brains are not just wired that way.

I (we) am not talking about when your computer breaks, fails to print, hangs or crashes. That’s a different problem, also pretty unacceptable.

It’s just all the simple simple things. I agree with all his examples. Here’s one: how do you add a contact to the Address Book application on Mac? Oh click that tiny “+” icon. Oh not that tiny plus icon. This one over here. Or, how do you explain  why I double click on this icon but single click on that one? And the perennial one: try to explain to anyone how to adjust margins in your favorite editor/wordprocessor.

So I won’t rehash Mr. Winer’s argument.

But let me ask this: it seems to me that there’s a real (and large) market for a device that does email, text editing (which is part of email) and web surfing. Specifically designed for people over say 60 or anyone who could care less how to tweak all the dials.

Maybe one or two more things beyond email and text editing. But that’s all. And that never ever crashes. And that has fonts and colors that are big enough for someone over 30 to read. Why doesn’t this exist? There’s got to be a very large market of people with money who would be willing to pay for it.

And by the way:

• No, it’s not an iPad (it has no keyboard and is way too precious).
• It’s not an iPhone: Forget about multi touch for this audience
• No, it’s not a Mac (see above.)
• No its not Windows 7 (OMG)

It doesn’t exist. Yet.

Popularity: 1% [?]

A beautifully written comment (positive) by Roger Ebert on the article about him in Esquire that I mentioned the other day:

“Well, we’re all dying in increments. I don’t mind people knowing what I look like, but I don’t want them thinking I’m dying. To be fair, Chris Jones never said I was. If he took a certain elegiac tone, you know what? I might have, too. And if he structured his elements into a story arc, that’s just good writing. [...] I knew exactly what he started with, and I could see where he ended, and he can be proud of the piece.” (from Roger Ebert’s Journal)

Popularity: 1% [?]

“I am so disappointed in the government”
“Are we driving off a cliff with two sets of hands on the steering wheel?”
“What is wrong with those people!”

You can pick your own headline, depending on your political leaning. I remember my father, living in Curaçao 30 years ago, would admire the US Congress noting that it was the ‘worlds greatest deliberative body’” No more. No more.

“Yet rarely has the political system seemed more polarized and less able to solve big problems that involve trust, tough choices and little short-term gain. The main urgency for both parties seems to be about pinning blame on the other, before November’s elections, for deficits now averaging $1 trillion a year, the largest since World War II relative to the size of the economy.” (read the whole article in The New York Times)

Popularity: 1% [?]

You may or may not remember Roger Ebert who not very long ago was co-host with Gene Siskel on the best movie review program anywhere. It was called something like Siskel & Ebert. Well Gene Siskel has since passed away, and here’s an update about the challenges that Gene Siskel has been having. It’s quite a story.

Popularity: 1% [?]

A Carrotmob is a network of consumers (?) who buy products in order to reward businesses who are making the most socially responsible decisions.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Popularity: 1% [?]

Who would think that an august publication like the Wall Street Journal would pull something like this: I was paying for access to their online edition. I decided to cancel it. Their very rich and sophisticated web site lets me change just about anything, but there’s no mention, anywhere, including FAQ and help, on canceling.

Oh, and wait, there’s more: there is an 1-800 number to call. But guess what, they too can’t cancel. They have to forward you to someone else, and wait again, who then tries to talk you out of canceling. Geez.

Popularity: 1% [?]

I was supposed to fly from San Fransisco to Boston today. Monday (2 days ago) I got an email from JetBlue saying, more or less: “Sorry to tell you, but your flight has been canceled. Please call 1-800-xxx to make a new reservation or get a refund.” No explanation of why. I was taken aback, but I guess it happens all the time. After spending 30 minutes on hold, I was able to make new plans which had me leaving a day early (yesterday.) Back safe and sound now.

To JetBlue’s credit for the moment, they are waving all change fees and more importantly, any fare differences. From their web site it seems like the flight was canceled due to ‘weather.’ While indeed tonight at 10pm we’re supposed to be in the middle of a blizzard here in Boston, on Monday, when they canceled, the weather today was predicted to ok. I guess they have better weather forecasters than the weather channel!

Popularity: 1% [?]

That was the old slogan of Jon Stewart’s Daily Show. This morning, while I was in a meeting, my cell phone reported the following ‘breaking news’ from CNN:

“– An explosion at a Connecticut power plant near Hartford has caused “mass casualties,” authorities say.”

Pretty scary. What was it? What’s going on? Well it turns out, now, 6 hours later, that “at least 5″ people died, and 12 injured. Still a serious accident but how can CNN justify that kind of sensational report sent out on their ‘breaking news’ text message?

I was talking this weekend to someone with a lot of experience as a journalist and he said, to my surprise, that news organizations don’t even bother ‘fact checking’ stories now. Gone are the days I remember from ‘All the President’s Men‘ when every story had to be confirmed independently by one, maybe two other sources.

Popularity: 1% [?]