The whole essay is well worth a read, and it definitely has some salient points to make. I wouldn’t say I agree completely with the notion that all we have today is pictures under glass but it certainly is the main gist of the (rather lame) future vision product videos coming from the likes of RIM and Microsoft. Bret managed to articulate exactly what it was that I didn’t like about these videos — they’re not visionary at all, they’re just small extensions on the things we can already do today.
This image is just great:
It really hammers home the point about feedback, expression in interface and the limitations of the current raft of technology. A few years back I was working in the interactivation lab at UTS with the ever expressive Bert Bongers. Bert’s work is focussed on making computers/buildings/instruments/the world more expressive, and it’s well worth diving into.
Are we really going to accept an Interface Of The Future that is less expressive than a sandwich?
- Bret Victor
Well played, sir.