The purpose of design is to improve a function while feeling as though it was never any other way. To exist without the memory of a beginning, like the day you were born. To be, greater than before, to the point of a new essence.

Life has this way of catching us at random intervals, as though it was designed to make its presence felt. Reminding us of our mortality, it implores us to improve our functions. It’s as if life was designed with no other motive than to improve itself. So indistinguishable from its nature, it could only be a product of The Greatest Designer.

It’s expected that later today Apple will announce the ‘iPad Mini’. However, in an interesting turn of events they’ve announced that the event will be streamed live via Apple TVs. This is the first time an Apple event has been streamed live since 2010, and the first time via an Apple TV.

If you explore this idea further, Apple could decide to stream new product launches on the very products they’re launching. For example, Apple could stream a video of the new Apple TV experience to our old Apple TVs; in effect simulating the new experience in our homes for a few brief moments.

According to some early figures, as many as 15% (now 60%), of current iPhone users are already running iOS 6, and with it, Apple’s terrible new maps. For the tech community, these new maps are providing some humour; yet I fear for many they could be misleading and in some cases detrimental to whatever urgency they’re currently experiencing. They are potentially an international public safety issue.

When you consider the scale of use – in the tens of millions – you start to see where the concerns of safety stem from. Millions of people taking wrong turns on highways, or driving to hospitals that don’t exist, or police stations that are actually 10 blocks east of where the map placed it. These maps had one job, and Apple are failing us.

This might sound like a naive local news station scaremongering their way to hockeystick ratings, but it’s a legitimate concern that I wish Apple were...

The primary purpose of a map is to orientate the user so they can better decide where they need to be next. Similar to the wheels on a bike, maps are a utility to get one from a–to–b. I believe Apple may have underestimated this when creating their latest iOS 6 Maps.

There’s no denying Apple have done a great job with hardware; yet, when they start designing user interfaces they seem so enveloped by the interface that they forget the user. Maps are all about data and function, so it’s no surprise google have done such a good job. Apples maps are awkward to read. I find myself squinting, but of course that does nothing to help.

In addition to that, Apple seem to have issues plotting their data correctly. There’s no Airport in Dundrum (a suburb of Dublin), and there’s certainly no Zoo in the heart of Dublin City center. I live here.

This is particularly interesting to me as I’ve...

I’m at odds with what Google are doing here. A fashion show is an event so far removed from the vision Sebastian Thrun so eloquently speaks of, that it leaves me wondering if I should prepare to be disappointed, again. Google are in a fortunate position whereby they have the opportunity to better engineer the way many of us live; yet so often the realities of their more ambitious pursuits leave me feeling deflated and frustrated.

When Google first announced Project Glass, I was skeptical. I felt as though all they had succeeded in doing was to shift the friction from our palms to our ears. However, as I let my opinions settle I began exploring the history of glasses, and then I came across this remark that changed everything for me.

Much has been written, ranging from the valuable to the worthless, about the invention of eyeglasses; but when it is all summed up, the fact remains that...

Nokia has apologised for not indicating that content of the video was a representation of OIS. The apology was for the video as a whole, i.e. incorporating all three scenes (bike, swing, street). […] I asked if you were in Helsinki as I was prepared to offer you a coffee at some point. That offer remains open if you’re ever in this neck of the woods.

NOKIA, via Email

I’ll hold them to that.

As if faking the video wasn’t bad enough.

This is a still from Nokia’s new product promo video. It’s showing off their apparent Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) on their new device, the Lumia 920.

Being a Finnish company, Nokia shot these scenes in Helsinki of course. I’ve lived in Helsinki, and where these photos were taken, there’s no lighting like this. Pretty much all street-lighting in Helsinki originates high from the center of roads. It’s ambiently diffused, not spot, as this video would have you believe. When you live through 20 hours of daily darkness in the winter, you start to notice these sorts of things.

I decided to do a bit more research based on the data we have at hand. Going by these still images it’s hard to tell what device really took the photos. We don’t have the EXIF data because these are part of a video, and there’s no cheeky reflections we can zoom in and...

The senior partner, the one with the skills to solve the problem, can sometimes become the problem. He and his ego wouldn’t want to hire somebody smarter than himself, and so in his misguided ways he avoids the threat by hiring a less capable subordinate. This trickles down from the top until you have an organization permeated with compounded mediocrity.

We’ve all had that horrible PM, boss, even friend, the guy that resented you for your ambition, creativity or inquisitive ways. He’d do anything to quell your spirit, the thing that makes you you. So long as humans exist, these people will. Whether you’re hiring or being hired, avoid these people like the plague.

Device fragmentation is an issue because diversity has always been an issue. Diversity of opinion or culture often leads to friction or in some cases conflict; that’s not to say we can’t strive for peace, it will come one day I’m sure.

Fred, being a VC, knows all about investment diversification; so from that perspective at least, he may be right. However, as a designer, my primary concern is understanding the device I’m creating a profitable — or otherwise — experience for. With almost 300 different (form factor and quality) Android devices available, building something of real value becomes an incredibly inefficient pursuit. With Android, we’re forced to make a lot of uncomfortable presumptions, exponentially more than normal, or than with iOS shall we say. Understanding device form factor, the quality of hardware and the expectations of users go a long way to informing the quality...

Hey Dalton, I could be wrong here but I feel like you and I have similar sensibilities. You’ve written and done things I’ve found myself thinking about and doing quite a lot. So without further adieu, let me get into this.

I’d like to share with you my own vision for the true social network. The actual network itself. This is something I’ve contemplated for a while, but over the last number of months it has become a little clearer; or rather I’ve been able to take it from an itch to a feeling, and now words.

Facebook, amongst others, are known as ‘Social Networks’, yet when you study the term, it’s an incorrect description. Your social network is a constant that exists outside of a single branded experience. It’s your life. I’m connecting with you via this email, but Twitter has no idea of that, of course. Yet, we are aware of it in our minds. We live our social network, we know what...