Tach it up, Tach it up, Buddy gonna shut you down

I've decided to shut down this blog. At this point, I simply don't have the time and energy required to make it something I'm proud of.

In the end I think CleverThink suffered from a lack of focus. Technology and Internet trends are huge topics that other blogs and websites can cover much better than I can. I may dip my toes back into the world of blogging at some point - be it as a solo artist or as part of a group.

It has been a rewarding and educational experience. Thanks for playing.

Best,
Alan

Foot in mouth disease

Following up on my previous post, here's a list I stumbled upon of ill-advised predictions for the technological future.

Where do we go from here?

The advancement of technology always finds a way to surprise us. When I was young, we figured by the year 2000 we'd all be flying around in jet cars with our robot buddies at our side. But no one predicted the Internet and the ways it's being used today. Or the iPhone or GPS Navigation.

It's the nature of technological advancements that we don't often see the most important ones coming. In the 1800s people were trying to design better horse-drawn wagons and trains. Very few saw the automobile coming. In 1977, Ken Olson the Founder of Digital Equipment Company said "There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home." Oops.

It's difficult to look forward and predict where tomorrow's technology will take us. Do we need more than 40,000 songs on iPod? Where can TV go from here considering the human eye can't discern more than 1080 DPI? How many radio stations can we listen to? What will Web 3.0 look like? And perhaps more importantly, what current technology that we take for granted will soon become the next horse-drawn wagon?

"Open the pod bay door, Google."

Here's an interesting article that asks the question, "Is the Internet changing the way our brains work?"

The argument is that the web has rewired our brains and made us all a little ADD. I don't think it's true at all because...hey look at this!"

Friday fun: Clever Clocks

Here are a few interesting and creative ways to display time.

Analogy - Jason Yip has made something something so simple and clever you'll wonder why you didn't think of it.

This Flash clock shows time literally sliding by.

The clock shows that time marches on and overwrites the past.

The World Clock shows up to date global statistics - some of which are alarming and depressing.

The Barcode clock is just what you'd think it would be.

And one of my favorites is Clockr. It uses random images from Flickr to produce the numbers.

The Duckrabbit

I wrote about beauty last year and linked to a great article in the Washington Post on how our perception of art and beauty is shaped by our readiness for it. In the article, a world class violinist plays in a train station and is largely ignored.

The Gestalt school of psychology tells us that we see things as a whole. We try to make sense of a photo (or a painting or a website) not by breaking it down into individual parts but by mentally grouping them all together into a whole - hence the expression "the whole is more than the sum of its parts."

Studies regarding perception have been done for years such as the duckrabbit experiment. The conclusion drawn from these experiments is that we do not merely see a set of lines, we see them as a duck (or as a rabbit). Experiments like this show us that, even when people are seeing the same thing, they can see things very differently.

I used to repeatedly go ten rounds with a co-worker over an issue related to our website. We were both looking at the same metrics but drawing completely opposite conclusions. I think she was seeing a rabbit and I was seeing a duck.

The same can be true when designing (or redesigning) a website. The design and organization and usefulness of the site should not be just about your organization and your perception. If it's going to be successful, it needs to reflect and incorporate the perspective of your website's users.

Our job is to see the duck and the rabbit.

People...People helping people

I visit one message board pretty regularly. The topic on this particular board: Anything. (Or maybe in true Seinfeld fashion: It's about nothing). Although it's affiliated with my college alma mater, it's basically an open forum for anything from politics to sports to movies. It's a virtual "water cooler" where you never know where the conversation might go next.

In just the last few weeks, posts have been made regarding Canadian tax law, Cape May bed and breakfast recommendations, and the best way to rid your yard of ground-dwelling bees. You'll see everything: new music recommendations, things to see and do in Cancun, finding a good plumber in DC, the best kinds of mulch. For the most part, it's friendly, funny, and often supportive communication.

As I observe (and sometimes participate in) this community, the takeaway for me is the amazing willingness of strangers to help each other. People who don't know each other are willing to take time out of their day and write a thoughtful, helpful, sometimes encouraging post to someone else in need.

The sense of community is a powerful force. Psychologists McMillan & Chavis define a sense of community as "a feeling that members have of belonging, a feeling that members matter to one another and to the group, and a shared faith that members' needs will be met through their commitment to be together."

The reasons for belonging to and participating in an online community can be seen in psychologist Abraham Maslow's famous Hierarchy of Needs. Maslow hierarchy is often depicted as a pyramid with five levels of needs. With the exception of the basic physical needs on the lowest level (food, water, sleep), each of Maslow's levels is addressed when people are active participants in an online community. For example:

Safety - not physical safety, but for a community to be effective, people need to feel secure that their participation is welcomed and that the environment is supportive.

Love/Belonging - People want to feel like they are part of something larger. People often make friends online. They share their ideas and want to exposed to others.

Esteem - People want to be correct, smart, funny and they want to feel good about themselves. Just like the cliques that develop in high school, finding an online community where you "fit in" is important.

Self-actualization - People need to engage with others to gain recognition and have an activity that gives them a sense of contribution, to feel accepted and self-valued.

As "the social web" continues to become a more important business opportunity, fostering a sense of community with and amongst your customers is a vitally important challenge most organizations are facing.