Over the weekend I finally got around to renting “Catfish.” I liked the movie a lot, despite the controversy about whether or not it’s a really documentary. As I watched it, I was especially fascinated by the way the filmmakers used interactive technologies to advance the narrative — and the degree to which audiences can accept these new references. For example, rather than showing an airplane flying over a map, an old-fashioned film technique (lovingly…
 
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It’s a common presumption that media will become increasingly personalized, but a recent article on ReadWriteWeb reminded me about the dangers, or at least dullness, of such a future. The article was commenting on Facebook’s COO Sheryl Sandberg, who said “People don’t want something targeted to the whole world — they want something that reflects what they want to see and know.” She went on to say that, in a couple years, websites that aren’t…
 
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The announcement this week of Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 Series has been getting a lot of attention. And, the reviews have been generally positive. It’s funny how, as designers, we’re so often skeptical about Microsoft. My friend Eric Brown saw the announcement and emailed me, asking, “Am I crazy for liking this?” I feel the same way. It’s not often that we say something positive about Microsoft. But this new phone OS is a refreshing…
 
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