This BBC Newsnight story, by Adam Livingstone, about the possibilities of a two-tier internet – ‘BitTorrent: Shedding no tiers’ – has an interesting fictional ‘architectures of control’ example to illustrate the possibilities of price discrimination in networks (see also Control & Networks): “So there’s me […]
All posts filed under “Design with Intent”
ZDNet: DRM train wrecks
ZDNet’s David Berlind has started to compile a Del.icio.us list of examples of ‘DRM train wrecks’, i.e. situations where the use of DRM has a distasteful corollary for consumers unaware of what they’re getting themselves into. “Most people don’t realize how much they’re giving up […]
High frequency wave files back up again
They’re back up (well, the wave files anyway), thanks to the Internet Archive.
‘Labels on digital content should spell out how easy it is to move from gadget to gadget’
A warning label mockup* The BBC is reporting that the All Party Internet Group (APIG), a cross-party group of MPs, has made some intelligent – and interesting – recommendations about explaining DRM more fully to consumers: “The MPs’ report made several recommendations and called on […]
An interlock example
It’s been a while since I posted about an architecture of control designed to assist/protect the user rather than to frustrate or intimidate, but just reading a great article about the MG SV-R supercar formerly produced by MG Sports & Racing*, a very simple interlock […]
Is design political?
Over at Core77, the Design Council’s Jennie Winhall has written a thought-provoking essay, “Is design political?”, looking at the links between design and politics, and how design can be used to shape behaviour for political ends:
BBC: Safe, secure and kitsch
Image from Sweet Dreams Security website From the BBC, an interesting story looking at the work of Matthias Megyeri’s Sweet Dreams Security: “A German artist is trying to change the way people think about security, by replacing barbed wire with heart-shaped metal, and pointed railings […]
Self-erasing mp3 player: Don’t give ’em ideas!
In a comment on a Boing Boing post about RFID ‘viruses’, Ben Giddings makes an interesting aside:
The fight back: Dongle sharing
Just flicking through last month’s issue of MCAD magazine, I came across an interesting advert from Smart Logic Ltd for the SmarterX range of ‘dongle sharing’ devices.
Podcast of London Copyfighters’ Brunch
The guys at Meme Therapy – incubating the world’s premature ideas have produced a great podcast of last Sunday’s fascinating London Copyfighters event, with interviews, discussion and some of the speeches from Speakers’ Corner, including my own rather spur-of-the-moment rant (about 25 minutes in) in […]