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smaller isn’t always sexier!
Technology has come a long way in the short time that it has been in existence. Around 75 years ago the first freely programmable computer was invented and it was the size of a conference room table. Now we carry far more powerful computers in our pockets where ever we go.
We went from this:
to this:
Now, this evolutionary road was a good one to follow for a good long time, but now there is a problem approaching. Devices are getting so small and sleek that an issue of usability is becoming an important topic of conversation. Companies are striving to put out the sexiest and thinnest gadgets that are more powerful than ever before.
Like this:
But at what point does it become a comically obvious problem?
I hope it’s not when this is released:
I don’t want to have to buy a phone that is worth half of my paycheck just to find out that my fingers are too big to use the buttons. I know some people like Blackberry phones (I can’t imagine why, not only their buttons, but their OS is messed up too!), but I find their buttons infuriating to use with my average size fingers! Am I the only one who has this problem?
With things getting smaller and thinner, companies have started a new trend of creating these half-assed versions of their products and releasing them as the “slim” version. The problem with these machines is that so much has been sacrificed to put these together that the product itself borders on worthless.
Case in Point:
My Playstation 3 Broke down recently. Now, I bought the 2nd generation Playstation 3 that had the emulator in it to play playstation 2 games. This was way before the PS3 Slim came out. This was still the full size console. Guess what? It lasted me years and years and only broke down last fall.
I was going to send it in to sony and get it repaired, but my wife insisted on buying me a brand new PS3 Slim. I thought against it, but since I love her so much I decided to let her go for it (Hey I was getting a new console after all!)
I had High hopes when I first started playing it. I even bought some new games off the playstation store to occupy my time on it for a while.
However, it was not to be. A mere two weeks after She bought it for me, the thing breaks down and won’t start up again.
Now let me ask you. What kind of world is this where you can release a product that has a large chance of breaking down in the first two weeks of use and charge $250 for it. That’s ridiculous!
There is a simple way to fix this problem! Sony could have avoided all of the headache and boosted their sales WAY more! Instead of releasing a Slim version of their consoles and creating an overheating problem that wouldn’t have existed if they had just left the design alone, why didn’t they just reduce the price of their most expensive console version and make the components of the slim console twice as big and powerful?
I would have driven to the store immediately if I had heard this speech at E3:
Well, we were going to create a slim version of the pc and make it out of cheaper plastic and give that to you guys. Instead we decided to take the slim version of the hardware and make it twice as big and therefore twice as powerful and stick it in the regular console shell. It may look the same but it is FAR from it! And to top it all off, the original most expensive model of playstation is now half price!Wouldn’t that just make you want to hand your credit card over to Sony and say “Here just send me all the brilliant Ideas straight to my door when you have them and put them on this card!”
Companies need to stop making things smaller and thinner on the outside and just start filling them up with the slimmer components on the inside! I don’t want to buy a paper thin iPad 5. It’s going to feel way too uncomfortable to hold. Stop making the iPod and iPhone thinner and just use the extra space to give me a bigger hard drive!
If companies start using common sense I will never have a problem involving my cellphone being lost in a floor vent!
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Unleash my Zoinky army of surly crack- babies!
So today started out great…
*WINK WINK*
I go to the library because I have an appointment to fix their UPS in the basement. The thing needs to have it’s batteries replaced and I have been waiting until Friday because they open late for Story time. Power Bumps have been happening because of the crappy weather and they keep losing their connection to the internet.
Unfortunately when I got there I had lugged two perfectly good batteries over, just to find out that this UPS, unlike all the ones just like It back at my office, takes a shorter and stubbier battery than the ones I have. I hate this industry. Just when you think you have a good product by a company that believes in standards, they go and pull this shit.
How many times do I have to say it? The technology industry needs Standards, Consistancy and Support for new stuff!
That was just the beginning though. I then tell my users that I am working on a problem and have made a change. I asked them to tell me how the system works now. The first email response I get is from a user who goes on a ridiculous rant about how that thing never works and how annoying it is. DID YOU NOT JUST READ MY ANNOUNCEMENT! IM WORKING ON IT!!!!!!!!!!!
I need a new job…
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zen
A master asked his student to bring him something to drink. The student, being grouchy from his master’s vague and confusing lessons, brought him back an empty glass.
“Thank you so much!” said the master happily as he proceeded to take a sip.
“Thank you for what?” the student said perplexed “There is no water in that glass!”
“Ahhh yes,” replied the master “but it is overflowing with air!”
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Think Long Term. Even if you die tomorrow, people will still smile about the good decisions you made years after you’re gone.
– Joshua Estes -
That’s Awesome!
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What are your faults?
Job interviews suck, and nothing in them sucks more than this question. However, If you know how to handle it properly it can become the question that lands you the job.
Next time an interviewer asks you that question try this:
(I)nterviewer: What are your greatest Faults?
Yo(u): Multitasking.
This will probably make them stare at you while thinking “Is s/he seriously telling me this?”
I: Multitasking?
U: Yes, I can’t multitask, but neither can anyone else that I have met.
I: lots of people can multitask including me. This is not an impressive thing to say Mr. U.
U: I’m pretty sure you can’t multitask either. Would you mind if i gave you a quick test? If you can perform these three tasks I’ll leave you to hire someone else.
I: alright, Wow me!
The Three Tests:
1) Ask them to hold up both their hands like they are swearing on a bible without a bible. (or like a human Football Field Goal Post.) Position thier fingers in the Spock “Live Long and Prosper” sign or the Mork and Mindy “Nanu Nanu” sign. See first if they can switch freely between the two signs with both hands simultaneously (some people cant even do this!) Next See if they can make each hand a different sign and then switch them simultaneously. This should be impossible.
2) Ask them to rub their belly and pat their head. Ask them to switch that motion simultaneously.
3) Ask them to lift their foot off the ground and draw a clockwise circle in the air with their toes. Now ask them to write the number 6 on a piece of paper without changing the direction of their foot.
If you can make them do these tests, it should easily convince them of the truth of multitasking, and either land you the job or get you past the worst question.
