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November 10, 2005
The World's Big Rocks
I've been thinking really big thoughts this afternoon & evening. I keep thinking these thoughts about designing things that are sustainable. Part of me really wants to study this deeply, but I'm not sure if anyone at my school is teaching about it.
In architecture, people think about the entire lifespan of a structure, including what will happen when the building eventually has to be destroyed. Special materials are used, and even the aesthetics of the building can be considered to make it look nice in its golden years. I admit, I really don't know anything about this, so if my explanation sounds rudimentary, that's because it is.
I'm not sure what the digital version of sustainable design is. Should we go back to counting our bits so that we don't need to continue to buy new hard drives and dispose of the old ones? Old computers are really bad for our environment when they aren't recycled properly (which is more often than not). None of the big players are really thinking about designing sustainable products...in fact they are thinking quite the opposite. If people are trained to buy a new computer every two years, then the companies make more money. Why would a company like Apple, Dell, etc. decide to make a computer that lasts longer, or one that uses materials that can more easily be recycled?
"But Josh, these companies do have recycling programs!" you say.
Well I know that, but maybe recycling isn't enough. Maybe we need to develop an organic computer. One that grows into flowers if you plant it in your garden. Maybe that thinking is too hopeful. I don't really care about feasibility at this point...it's the point that counts.
Speaking of ideas...I keep thinking about teaching design to Urban High School students. The design world is a pretty homogenous one, from what I've seen so far, and I believe this field could progress a great deal with more diversity. We'd design for those who really matter...not just for the upper class rich people, but for those who really need great design most. It's with this in mind that I would really like to introduce an after-school curriculum in which students learn about the world of design. I don't think this stuff is really so hard to grasp that a teenager couldn't get it. In fact, I think with their creative minds might do this stuff better than a lot of my colleagues, myself included. I'd like to pursue this idea, I think for now it's just a question of timing...oh, and location...there aren't exactly any urban areas too close to Bloomington.
This evening I watched a documentary at school called Secrets of Silicon Valley. It was a pretty sad story. One never really thinks about where this technology is actually built. In fact, for every printer, pda, laptop, desktop, server, etc., there is a huge team of people who work in a factory in horrible conditions. Tomorrow I'll meet and talk with one of the main people in the movie, Raj Jayadev. He was a factory worker who was fired for bringing up health & safety issues while working for HP. He won his wrongful termination case, if that helps matters... Anyway, I recommend this film for anyone who uses technology (and if you're reading this blog, then that means you).
Anyway, these are the big rocks I've been thinking about lately. Thanks for hearing me out, if you've made it this far. :-)
Posted at November 10, 2005 08:59 PM
Comments
>The design world is a pretty homogenous one, from
>what I've seen so far, and I believe this field
>could progress a great deal with more diversity.
I think about this kind of thing all the time, and I always hit up against a question like this: So OK, do we try to shrink the margins in terms of who is involved in/knows about mainstream design? Basically get more people on this boat we already have in hopes that it will benefit from their presence? Or do we work on making it easier for people to do their own design on their own boats, without ever really connecting it back up to what is being done in the name of The Greater Good (TM).
I often tend more toward the second option, and this is why I sometimes get frustrated with the school of thought that says that true design is done for someone other than ourselves. There's a big part of me that thinks that the best we could possibly do is to get to a point where people can just use the creative, opportunistic muscles that have served us for centuries to build stuff as they need it, and refine it as they go.
I grow more and more convinced that I'm drawn to HCI because I want to push design in a direction that's more about fishing poles and less about fish. :)
Yesterday I read an old but interesting blog entry about "situated software" that made me think more about things like this, and you might find it interesting.
Posted by: Kynthia at November 11, 2005 11:28 AM
hey josh, thanks for the link. i'll def try out some of the methods. i had him play math bingo the other day as a start. soo wish me luck. hope you're doing well out in IN. take care!!
Posted by: Cin at November 12, 2005 05:56 PM