Maeda's SIMPLICITY

Aesthetic Vegetables

Kaleidascopes are descended from flowers.

I've recently revived some old Java applications I wrote for Shiseido. They barely run properly on a Mac, but nonetheless they seem to work sometimes. The first is an orchid-themed card designer that was my first client-server system. It seems to be the most temperamental of the triplet. The second is a morning glory-themed system that also somewhat mocks the newer Java versions. The third was inspired by poinsettias and the winter holidays. It was my last such system due to the frustration I had with trying to get these things stable and running in the uncooperative and constantly-changing landscape of dynamic media on the web. Luckily there are MIT alums Casey Reas and Ben Fry working on Processing which forms a more stable core for developing Java-based systems on the web.

I had a conversation with the Kennedy Center folks yesterday on a related theme of media stability. Many prestigious physical venues are interested in maintaining some kind of equally prestigious virtual venue. The answer to this common desire remains unanswered. Virtual things generally stink because they are thought to be somehow self-sustaining. In the physical world, we have heating systems breaking down and water leaks that occur from time to time. There is a specific need for human staff to attend to the qualitative needs of a facility. In the virtual space we have the concept of tech-support and so forth, yet there really is no way for a remote staffer to fix a crashed Flash page on your desktop. Who you gonna call? Really nobody. Just reset your computer and hope the problem goes away. At least 99.9% of computer problems are solved with the close-your-eyes and pray method. There's serious room for a lucrative religion to form around this theme. The antidote will be true simplicity. We're almost there with our collaborators here at MIT. I'm as impatient as you are.

Posted by maeda at April 28, 2005 09:36 AM