What my followers on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ saw today:
• In case you need some guidelines for being a movie jerk on the Web… The IMDB Troll Doctrine
• You’ve probably never heard the word “skeuomorphism” (I hadn’t), but it’s likely you have an opinion on it already: Will Apple’s Tacky Software-Design Philosophy Cause A Revolt?
• I haven’t seen Looper yet, because the studio handling it doesn’t like me, so for now I’ll make do with this short by Rian Johnson, which predates his features. The Psychology of Dream Analysis
(hat-tips for today’s links: /Film, Americablog)
Hi MaryAnn, hope all is well.
I was a little taken aback when I read that you weren’t able to preview “Looper” because “the studio handling it doesn’t like me”.
If you don’t mind a complete stranger asking…..What in the world? Why would a studio behave this way?
See also http://skeu.it/ which points up some of the silliest examples. I think that this is inevitable for people who are stuck using icons, since the hardware tech has changed so quickly that most users have never seen the thing the icon is meant to represent. (A glue-pot for “paste”? A 3.5″ floppy disc for “save”?)
while i get the idea that skeuomorphism is a vexation… what is the suggestion for replacing those icons, or the bookshelf type thing on your device — and i’m sorry but bookshelves are still around in plenty — what would be used? just a list? no icons of any kind? i’m okay with a pull down menu, myself, actually prefer it, but i would be curious to know what other suggestions there are out there in programming land.
Personally I like words. I’ll put up with icons if there’s no alternative.
In what language?
Seriously, localization of software is already a big headache with the use of icons.
perhaps some sort of abstract icons should be developed that would be universal… everyone would learn those icons, and they wouldn’t have (as much as possible) any cultural significance.
also, little paste pots are still used in schools… once you’ve used that sort of thing, you don’t forget it… what about the save? a lifesaver? a safe?
It’s not so much a programming issue as it is a design issue. Which is why I find one designer calling another designer’s design philosophy “masturbatory” so amusing. The author of that piece, as well as most of his interview subjects, touted Windows 8’s Metro interface. Doing away with a desktop and a highly refined menu system for: a screen full of square blocks; programs constantly running in the background creating visual clutter; a nausea inducing color scheme; an interface built for a touchscreen slapped onto a desktop monitor; and no option to easily revert to a more familiar interface? How is that not a masturbatory set of choices by Metro’s designers?