My concentration at University was in photography so I’ve always been fascinated, and sometimes confused, with image manipulation software. Two of my favorite photographers are Paul Strand and Alfred Stieglitz who were driving forces behind the art of photography as we know it today (at least, that is what I remember). Both were active in promoting straight photography, i.e. manipulation free photography. The idea was to capture a scene as it appeared.

This seems simple and obvious, however, it is neither. There are numerous ways to manipulate a photo, even outside of software, which deviates it from this idea. Cropping. Dodging and burning. Double exposure. Over exposing. Off focusing. Retouching. Coloring. Etc. These actions change a photograph and even the act of photography into something else. Not better or worse, just something else.

What straight photography is great at is forcing the artist to focus on the scene he is presented with and manipulate himself to get the most interesting shot. He is to think of the light as his paint and adjust his camera accordingly. Imagine if the paints resting on a palette were changing a mile a minute. Would a painter just start slapping his brush wildly around the canvas hoping for something to materialize?

To a straight photographer, 80% of their job ends once the shutter flickers. The remaining 20% is done processing the film and printing prints that stay in line with capturing the scene as it appeared.

This is all just a long winded way of saying that I do not know what to make of Photoshop’s deblurring plugin. I have more questions than I do answers so I find the video below both absolutely amazing and painfully annoying.

I never bought a blue-ray or hd dvd player, DVD quality is fine. I never bought a tivo, TV sucks, why record or even pause it. I don’t have a Roku box, I have a computer connected to my TV… So of course I never bought a Kindle even though it makes perfect sense to me now.

I read a lot, I like having a book with me at most times, I’m always looking for new books to read, I like to take notes on what I read and I am usually reading a few books at once.

What took me so long.

The nuisances of this new technology was a roadblock to my appreciation of it. What if dirt gets inside it? Can I read it in the dark? How much are the books? Is it heavy? I like how books feel in my hand so no thank you. I like to flip through books to read at random points. Can I read PDFs on it? What about digital books from the Library? What if I lose it? Is it fragile?…

This is me fighting something that is truly revolutionary. The more confused I am about a new idea or technology, the more it challenges the status quo, the greater its chance of being disruptive.

The reverse can also be true. If something at first glance is perceived as brilliant or interesting, the likelihood of it being longstanding is usually quite low.

* Kindle photo by Librarian by Day

VentureBeat has a fascinating interview with Nvidia exec Jen-Hsun Huang which focuses on what Huang asks, “what is the soul of a new PC?”.

For Huang it is not a question of when the recession will lift, getting things back to normal, but what will the landscape look like. Specifically the PC and chip industries.

Better, smaller, faster, more efficient chips and computers.

But the core change: Cheaper computing instruments.

Q: What is the next-generation user interface?
A: I may sound old fashioned. I want a MacBook Air with battery life that lasts forever for $199. I like that big keyboard. – http://venturebeat.com/2009/01/28/jen-hsun-huangs-quest-to-spread-graphics-beyond-pcs/

Bringing up Apple is very interesting. They are off in their own world and if the rest of the world changes, what does that mean for them?

Sales of netbooks are growing.

Maybe it’s better for Apple; Creating more value for them.

I’m often asked, “are those cheap Acer laptops really any good?”; Questioning their intention, going ahead the purchase no matter what my answer.

Honestly, as long as PCs and Laptops start coming stripped down, no unnecessary 3rd party software, all will be good.

But I really want one of these: TechCrunch Tablet

Twistori > Summerize > Twitter

Twistori presents a flow of common emotions that people twit about on Twitter, pulled via Summerize. What is funny is how removed the viewer is from an emotion that started so intimately.

Created by Amy Hoy and Thomas Fuchs.

Via http://www.youtube.com/user/boingboingtv

I’ve never been scared of security or identity theft issues before, but this just seems way too easy.

…at least to see where they could lead.

Sure ads suck, but I think marketers will eventually come around and realize what a good ad can be and do for every party.

It is not about doing the same thing that has been done for 75+ years. Twitter offers some really unique advertisement opportunities that could benefit both the users and advertiser. Simple contextual ads would be boring and pointless, other than driving a bit of revenue for Twitter.

(Thought spawned by Twitter Testing Advertising In Twitter Streams)

Imagine taking a snapshot with your camera phone, cropping it, tagging it, maybe even adding a bubble quote, then being able to send it to all your friends without using any built-in software or having to install a 3rd party app – Every piece of software you use can live elsewhere and you can jump around from tool to tool as you see fit.

This is an idea that I was getting at when I wrote The Browser is Dead. The browser is helping remove the need for software to live locally on our systems.

BXP makes a great point:

“The beauty of browsers, though, is that as the Web evolves, the interface stays the same. Remember when browsers were just HTTP viewers? Now browsers can run applications and display dynamic content.” – BXP (The Browser is Dead #comment-69)

It is not only that browsers have changed, but that web servers have changed. Connect-ability is more important than any specific technology or platform. What needs to happen in order for browsers to become better than an OS?

Browsing the internet on my blackberry via an EDGE network is slow. It’s damn slow. But I love it! It actually helps me get more done!

Because of the speed restrictions I think about and question every link I encounter. It is like the anti-stumbleupon. I am more considerate when reading articles and blogs, making them much more enjoyable.

In turn, I actually read more, gather more information in full as I am not skipping, guzzling information, hoarding it as fast as I forget it.

I just get in and get out.

Michael Arrington on TechCrunch writes:

For most early adopters (and all Mac users), the browser is increasingly the only operating system that matters anyway. Windows isn’t really that relevant any more just because of the increasing utility of online applications like Google Docs, which competes with Microsoft Office. – Gartner Says Vista Will Collapse. And That’s Why The Yahoo Deal Must Happen

With the increasing popularity of widgets over the last few years, I honestly believed that the browser was at and end, it had hit a wall. There are even Firefox plug-ins that allow the browser to NOT act like a browser.

The problem is in the general thinking of the OS, as a platform for apps to run. By definition this is true. That’s all it is.

Why the browser is so popular is that it is a tangible interface to the internet. People got the “pamphlet” pitch back when the internet first entered the publics’ conscience.

It is going to take a young mind, someone who sees the OS as something completely different, to bring its next iteration. Not simply as a serving tray for apps.

I think it’s less “the OS is dead” and more that the OS needs to be re-thought. (Windows is ‘collapsing,’ Gartner analysts warn)

Finding newly created folders is cumbersome. Finding re-named folders and files is a pain. File and keyboard actions are not carried across all tools, such as the save dialog. Files are re-associated to different apps too presumptuously. There is also a real lack of built-in file and folder actions.

These are the things I do everyday, not just once in awhile headaches.

Of course, the act of renaming filenames is fantastic.