Don Norman: kids aren’t smarter than us; they just have more free time

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Interesting CNET interview with the guru himself:

For years I used to say, “We shouldn’t have to adapt to technology, it should adapt to us.” I now believe that’s wrong. We shouldn’t have to adapt to arbitrary technology. On the other hand, so much of our modern life has been a major adaptation to the technology surrounding us, whether it’s heating systems, lights, telephone, or television.

If you’d asked me to predict texting I’d have said, “No, it’s really too hard. Jeesh, you need to type three times to get a ‘C.’ That’s ridiculous.” Not only did people learn it, but (they) learned it so well…So, there’s an adaptation for you.

Now, just as an aside, I think it has not to do with the age…I think it has to do with how you live your life…In my case, it was easy because I grew up helping develop the technology so I learned it as it was developed. For many, it suddenly sprung on them and it’s true, it’s hard to keep up.
As people, we should not care about the technology. We should care about the benefits it gives us.

The issue is not how tech-savvy you are, or how quick you pick up to it. I believe these are things that often take many hours to master…You just didn’t want to spend the next 20 hours of your life mastering it. But a lot of the kids, they have that kind of time to devote to it…

Is eBay guilty of “contributory infringement”?

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From a New York Times report…

In a weeklong bench trial in Federal District Court in Manhattan that ended last Tuesday, lawyers for Tiffany & Company argued that the online auction house was far more than that: it is a distribution network that enables the trading of counterfeit Tiffany items.

If Tiffany wins its case, not only could other lawsuits follow, but eBay’s business model could be threatened because it would be difficult and extremely expensive for the company, based in San Jose, Calif., to police a site that now has 248 million registered users worldwide and approximately 102 million items for sale at any one time.

Tiffany has requested injunctive relief that would require eBay to alter its procedures to eliminate counterfeit silver Tiffany merchandise from its auctions. Judge Richard Sullivan instructed both sides to file post-trial briefs by Dec. 7.

“I will hopefully turn this around quite quickly after that,” he told the lawyers.

Hani Durzy, an eBay spokesman, said eBay was not responsible for determining whether each product sold on the site was fake.

“As a marketplace, we never take possession of any of the goods sold on the site, so it would be impossible for us to solely determine the authenticity of an item,” Mr. Durzy said. “And we go above and beyond what the law requires us to do to keep counterfeits off the site.”

But in his closing argument last Tuesday, James B. Swire, the lawyer for Tiffany, told Judge Sullivan that eBay directly advertised the sale of Tiffany jewelry on its home page, and “because eBay profits from the sales generated by these and other actions,” Tiffany considers its actions direct copyright infringement.

Mr. Swire added that “there’s certainly much in the record to show that eBay is liable for contributory infringement.”

William Boot, RIP

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The memorial service for Bill Deedes was held yesterday. Andrew O’ Hagan was there.

One night at the Hay Literary Festival, the novelist Monica Ali and I quizzed Bill about how much Evelyn Waugh had exaggerated when making up the character of William Boot, the hero of Scoop, who is said to be based on the young Bill Deedes. “Oh, quite a lot,” he said. “I wasn’t that into cleft sticks, though I did pack an absurd amount of stuff. But Waugh wasn’t such a good reporter you know. Frightfully good at other stuff, but not much use to a paper, I must say.”

ABC News and Facebook team up for political debates

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From today’s New York Times

ABC News and Facebook have formally established a partnership — the site’s first with a news organization — that allows Facebook members to electronically follow ABC reporters, view reports and video and participate in polls and debates, all within a new “U.S. Politics” category.

To underscore their collaboration, the two organizations will announce today that they are jointly sponsoring Democratic and Republican presidential debates in New Hampshire on Jan. 5, three days before the primary election there.

“Through this partnership, we want to extend the dialogue both before and after the debate,” said Dan Rose, Facebook’s vice president for business development.

The announcements are another sign that news organizations are looking to capitalize on the potential power of Facebook, which began as a database of college friendships, and other social networking sites. Media companies like The New York Times and The Washington Post have produced pages for use on Facebook and some newspapers, magazines and television stations have recently invited users to join special pages that are set up to follow reporters’ political coverage. But ABC’s new relationship is intended to be deeper…

Another interesting symbiotic relationship.

Activating the amygdala

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Funny what one finds in the Telegraph…

Plunging stock prices ignite the same circuits in your brain that respond to the snarl of a lion. Just a flash of the red colour that symbolises a downtick is enough to excite the circuitry in your brain – and to make reflective thinking more difficult…

Summer’s been cancelled — for some hacks

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I watched the second half of the England-Croatia match in utter disbelief — not at the result, but at the state of the pitch, which was like that of a Conference League club after a bad winter. And this is supposed to be Britain’s national stadium.

My colleague, Peter Preston, has been watching the impact of the match on the football media…

When England – or, indeed, any home country – fails to qualify for a World Cup or Euro championship, it’s not just the fans who feel let down. The travelling press misses its big adventure, too. Scores of expert correspondents who might have been having a wonderful time in central Europe are stuck at home with the wife, dog and garden. The nights in the beer halls, the schnitzels and fondues, the expenses chits… all suddenly evaporate.

‘The first thing that happened when I got in on the morning after was a message from the managing editor asking me to re-budget my summer spending,’ said one doleful sports editor. He was not alone. Good news for Croatia was dire news for the UK’s growth editorial industry: sports journalism.

One myth of old Fleet Street is that hacks don’t care. But they do. They are genuine fans, true footie junkies. Their bosses are hooked on national moments, and also gathered around the TV in the office last Wednesday, part of an audience 11 million strong enjoying a national moment that might shift a few copies as well. This feels like disaster for them because it upends expectations, cancels hotels, planes, travel plans – and leaves a lumpen month of nothingness where excitement ought to be…

Aw, poor dears.

Kindling for a new market?

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This morning’s Observer column…

It’s the end-of-the-book story again. Last week, Amazon launched its Kindle electronic book reader, amid corporate hopes that it would become the ‘iPod of e-readers’. Strange, isn’t it, how everyone now aspires to create the ‘next iPod’?

The Kindle is a neat gadget that is the size of a paperback book, weighs 10.3 ounces and doesn’t beep. Its display gives a good approximation of the clarity of print on a six-inch screen. Of course it relies on battery power, but Amazon claims that you can get up to 30 hours of reading before having to plug it in for a two-hour recharge. It can hold up to 200 books. In sleep mode, the device displays tasteful images of ancient texts, early printing presses and classic authors like Emily Dickinson and Jane Austen….