Design Arguments

Task 2 part D SELF EVALUATION OF THE REVISED REVIEW

2006-06-28T19:35:00.000-07:00

Evaluation of the revised review

I think that the change of tone was sucessful and the attempt of writing it in the 2nd person got hard towards the end. All in all i'm happy with the revised review but feel that the casual review would sell more of the product described for it's easier to read and makes the reader feel like the person writing is the same as them.

Sydney Biennale Exhibition

2006-06-28T19:10:00.000-07:00

Task 1 Part B1
As you enter the Sydney Biennale exhibition (pier 2, the rocks) and walk up stairs you find the whole floor dedicated to one piece of art “The Fields” by Antony Gormley. The second that you arrive on the top floor you are amazed by all the hundreds of portrait photos on all the walls. With nothing to explain what is going on your inquisitive mind looks for reason. As you walk further you find another room only with hundreds of thousands little clay figures staring at you creating a glowing sea of clay midgets.

This makes you do some research and you discover that Antony Gormley has been making the field project for over 15 years.

“This version of Field was made by 500 assistants out of 125 tonnes of gritty brick”

As you stare at the field you wonder what the purpose of this artwork is. A few things come to mind like maybe the artist wanted to portray a sense of unity; we are different but essentially the same.

According to Antony Gormley “The idea is to wake you up and make you take account of the fact that you are the maker of the world…” The work manages to achieve this for a sense of effort, time and labor radiates as you stare at the work, making you think that you are the creator of your own world.

Antony Gormely has many other works which can be seen at: http://www.antonygormley.com/

Task 1 Part B2
Unlike the previous review this review will evaluate positive and negative aspects of the work.

The 600 Photographs on the wall as you enter the work are really amazing (see images above) for they show the 300 local makers and their choice of one of their works, providing a fascinating way of showcasing how “these seemingly similar forms carry subtle intimations of feeling” http://www.antonygormley.com/

Antony Gormely has many other works which can be seen at: http://www.antonygormley.com/

This London Based Artist has shown this work all over the world and the artwork uses clay from every continent. This embodies the physical earth into the piece which is the intention of the artwork for according to Antony “The idea is to wake you up and make you take account of the fact that you are the maker of the world…”http://www.antonygormley.com/ being maker in a literal and metaphoric sense. As you stare at the field of hundreds of thousand of miniature people you appreciate the effort and time gone into this piece and this makes you search for meaning and the meaning I got out of the piece is due to the fact that all the little figures appear the same at first glance but are all different and were created by different people with different parts of the earth, this gave me a sense of brotherly in that it made me relise Even we are all the same I am unique and the controller of my own world, a bit corny, its true but never the less quite a powerful piece of art. I think the work effectively achieves what is set out to do

To touch on some negative aspects of the work, well I guess if one had to criticise it, I guess you could say that it is a bit corny in that the statement it''s conveying has been shown in many movies and tv shows. It seems very "Walt Disney" with its message of do what you want to do – take control. This reminds me of an advertisement for exercise with it’s slogan “Life Be In It”

Task 2 Part C PRODUCT REVISED REVIEW

2006-06-28T19:05:00.000-07:00

Task 2 Part C

Due to the casual nature and feed back of the previous review it is this reviews intention to present the same information only in a formal 2nd person manner.

Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) have been around for a few years now and culturally they make a mark in the middle and upper society, this is purely due to the price. The Jornada 720 is no exception, with a retail value of $999.00. Research has shown that a variety of people in this bracket use PDAs, some for functional reasons and others for status reasons.

There is also the issue of what bearing new technology like this has on society. According to Mohatta http://www.comptechlib.com/590.html Technology "... is creating hermits everywhere" So is two a crowd? Well one could argue that technology is merely a tool and an added communication device making us more connected for example Skype (www.skype.com) is a very effective communication device making it possible to chat to people on the other side of the planet through your pc for free. According to Rusch "Skype is a part of a new communications life style. It began with people in far away places and it's created all sorts of new connections" http://descrittessakb.blogspot.com/www.worldchanging.com/archives/oo2523.html

It is the intention of this review to present the facts and not make bias statements or assumptions, like whether you need one or not. This review found that through using a variety of PDAs the Jornada 720 was great for typing notes, for it found that other PDAs didn’t have a keyboard built in that was designed for touch typing, this gives the Jornada 720 a small monopoly in the PDA market place.

Due to the size of this product it possibly could replace your laptop for it measures 14 by 6 by 3 centimeters and weighs 500 grams. This means that currently it is more portable than laptops. Shopping.com speak of it highly and regards it as the “…lightest, most convenient web surfing machine”

The Jornada 720 is the leader in terms of speed with its 206 mega hertz strong arm processor which made the device efficient to use. It was also found that with its mp3 and game capabilities the Jornada 720 seemed to have an edge in the market.

This product also has a navigational touch sensitive 6.5 inch screen which is able to display 65,536 colours, this is powered by a 2d Graphics card making gaming a possibility. It was found that these games and other programs are accessible by performing a Google search.

The Jornada 720 runs on a windows CE platform unlike its competition the Palm Pilot this product is windows based and can run Microsoft office programs. Inside the shell a fairly large battery was discovered. It was found that it compared well against other PDAs and laptops only giving 2-3hrs, while the Jornada performed at up to 9hrs in use time. Also discovered was a backup battery designed to prevent data lost when the main battery no longer held charge.

When connecting to a computer one has to dock the device in a cradle which then connected to a computer via USB. It was found that this may have portability issues for it is felt that a simple USB cable connecting to the device itself would have made the cradle redundant and therefore increasing portability.

This review found that this device does not have “plug and play” capabilities, requiring “Active Sync” to be installed if one needs to connect to a computer. Even though the keyboard was designed for touch typing it's only a three quarter size keyboard, making it hard to type if one was to have large hands.

Perhaps a bigger issue may be the lack of human interaction being caused by new technology. Mohatta suggests a similar thing "There may be a day, when no one needs to come out of home. Now, even marriages are webcast, so that relatives can bless the couple online without needing to come over. What more can they think of?" http://www.comptechlib.com/590.html

But on the other hand as mentioned earlier technology has also made communication in remote or distant places possible and far more cost effective (skype)

Other reviews speak highly of the product. According to Thaddeus Computing 2006 even though this PDA is fairly old now being released in the year 2000 it is still very much alive for it is such a robust little device that really hasn't been replaced yet with anything worth while.

2006 Ziff Davis Publishing Holdings Inc. (pc mag.com)"…lightest, most convenient web surfing machine" Shopping.com these guys also give it 5 out of 5 stars

This review has presented the facts found through use and research, it is not the intention of this review to be bias with frivolous rating systems, just to present the facts and let you make your own mind up.

Task 1 part C Review of Designers blogs

2006-06-28T19:03:00.000-07:00

Task 1: Part C
Reviewing designers blogs and evaluating there contribution to design critisism is the aim of this section.
I will be reviewing two blog sites the first of which is
Design notes by Michael Surtees
View at: http://www.sidewalkpressed.com/

It was found that all designers have there own way and style in contributing to design criticism. The two bogs review are very different from each other in that one is a personal blog giving almost a running commentary of designs and the other a more formal design magazine.
Design notes is a very informal site that shows social trends with a very personal and casual tone. Baker states that this type of design criticism gives room for developing design criticism which in this case I disagree for Michael hasn’t made any real statements, his blog is more just a streaming though or conversation with the potential reader.

In Karen Kitchener’s “Levels of Reflective Judgment Muchael Blog would be at stage 1 for he is only stating what he finds true through direct experience for he doesn’t make any claims just shows and comments of what he likes and doesn’t. According to Kitchnener stage 1 “There is only direct experience which is true discrepant data.”

Justin Good’s: What is Beauty? Or, On the Aesthetics of Wind Farms
View at: http://www.designobserver.com/archives/014344.html

Justin Good gives a very descriptive discussion on what he defines beauty. He argues that there are many types of beauty and beauty is not just a feeling it is a complex evaluation process where the mind evaluates previous things it has seen and the context of the object being evaluated. Justin gives an example of Wind Farms and how they are modern sculptures but are viewed by some as being ugly for they lie in amongst nature. So one could argue that there is a conflict of aesthetics, being machine vs nature.

Plato states that the true = the good = the beautiful, Where as Justin makes clear that good isn’t always beautiful for the windmill farms provide clean energy but are views as some as ugly.

Philosopher Immanuel Kant states that when you see beautifully you see evaluatively. This is also true with Justin Goods Blog for he talk of how more is involved then just a set of emotions when evaluating beauty.

Justin Goods evaluation of Aesthetics is also similar to the German Romanics who state “Aesthetic make us want reason…I desire reason when I see beauty”

Because of Justins theory of desiring reason when seeing beauty and stating that what is good may not necessarily be beautiful makes him a stage 6 & 7 reflective thinker for according to Karen Kitchener’s “levels of reflective judgment” stage 6 and 7 are about sensing the need for more than knowledge here and there which is what Justin mentions when he states that beauty is not necessarily form follows function and again gives the example of the wind mill farms and implies that even the form has followed the function in this case if is not necessarily beautiful.

Part A 3b -Taste reflective response

2006-06-28T11:08:00.000-07:00

Ok i was quite impressed with the resposed to the unanswered questions. First of all I don't watch much tv at all which all you guys guessed. I prefer to buy the dvds of the shows or movies. Also i like my computer games which i find way more entertaining than tv.

Most of you guested that i would watch some sporting events, This is true and i have been watching Australia Kick ass. I think this week i watched about 2hrs of tv which is alot for normally it would be zero but i had to watch Australia play. In saying this i still like movies i just prefer to watch them without ads. My favourite show is Myth busters (on DVD)

This brings me to the movie question. Probably my favorite movies would be, BraveHeart, The Note Book, The Devils Avocate and American History X. There all top films and i own all of these on DVD and have also seen them on the big screen. Not many of you had a go at this question so i can't really comment on your answers

With the question of where i would go twice a year well i don't really care too much for politics for there all lying bastard with half a brain cell to share amongst each other, so i'd probably visit a museum or library

Part A -Product Review

2006-06-26T17:25:00.000-07:00

The Jornada 720

I’m sure that most are familiar with PDA’s (Personal Digital Assistant) and how usefull they can be. As a Uni student I’ve purchased two one being the Toshiba 740 (which broke after a year) and the other the Hewlett Packard 720. As an exercise i thought it be a good idea to write this review on the product being reviewed

After owning one for 2 years and a similar one's to it that claimed to do the same thing, the Jornada is definitely a Geeks must have.

Fig. 1. Thaddeus Computing 2006

I mean really who needs a social life when you have one of these babies. Which automatically raises concern for according to Mohatta http://www.comptechlib.com/590.html Technology "...is creating hermits everywhere" So is two a crowd? Well one could argue that technology is merely a tool and an added communication device making us more connected for example Skype (www.skype.com) is a very effective communication device making it possible to chat to people on the other side of the planet through your pc for free. According to Rusch "Skype is a part of a new communications life style. It began with people in far away places and it's created all sorts of new connections" www.worldchanging.com/archives/oo2523.html

Ok let get down to why you should immediately start saving and at $999.00 I mean start saving!! (I bought this Product 2 years ago and the price hasn't dropped much!!!)

Great for typing notes
Firstly as a Uni. student this device makes you not want hand write anything ever again and if your hand writing is anything like mine THATS A GOOD THING. Just as I typed that last statement I noticed that there is no caps lock button and I must admit it was a little annoying. You have to hold the function button down and then press the shift key in order to get cap lock, other wise you can just hold the shift key down for the duration.

If the most use you get out of you laptop is typing in word and the internet then this toy will serve your purpose even more so, for it is far more portable with dimensions 14 by 6 by 3 centimeters and weighing 500 grams its the"...lightest, most convenient web surfing machine" Shopping.com

it can fit into most purses or man bags. Secondly and this is the best bit unlike any other PDA’s it comes with a built in keyboard that you can actually touch type on, which is absolutely essential. Even though it would have been nice if HP made the keyboard a little bigger this three quarter size keyboard does the job, unless you have fat fingers, if so you might feel a little cramped.

Specifications
206 Mhz StrongARM SA111x processor
2D graphics acceleration
32 MB RAM
56K internal Modem
PCMCIA type II slot
Compact Flash type I slot
Smart Card slot
Stereo headphone jack
Voice Recorder
Touch Screen input

Software
Windows CE
Yahoo MessengerLandware’s
OmnisolvePocket
Microsoft Office:
AccessExcel
Word
PowerPoint
Pocket Outlook
Windows Media Player
Internet Explorer
Calculator

Specs gathered from Chris De Herrera 2005

Tech. run down
If you are a fellow Geek then these spec’s will probably impress you and if not be assured that this little toy has one of the fastest processors around with internet capabilities, a Compact Flash memory slot for saving your data, Stereo headphone Jack, coupled with windows media player which turns the unit into an effective mp3 player. As well as having all these features the unit runs on a windows CE operating system which means that finding software on the net is a breeze, unlike the Palm Pilot which runs on its own unique operating system with fairly primitive and basic software downloads.

The navigational touch sensitive 6.5 inch screen is able to show 65,536 colours which makes it the biggest screen available in a PDA thus far which is remarkable considering the unit came out in the year 2000. The unit also comes with a 2d Graphics card which is great for games, although you won’t be able to play the latest games only ones designed for the unit. These are available by performing a simple Google search.

Great Battery life
Another reason which makes this unit so cool is the 9hrs in use battery life which compared to the 2-3 hours one gets on a laptop or PDA makes, this unit is great for travel. This unit also includes a inbuilt back up battery meaning that if you forget to recharge the backup battery kicks in and prevents any data being lost, even though you can’t use the PDA at this time, it’s a great design feature for there is nothing worse than having to retype a few hours worth of work.

Although so far this review is sounding really positive I have noticed some improvements that would make this unit even more powerful.

Cons.
Firstly the fact that the unit has to be docked in its cradle in order to transfer files is a bit silly, why have a cradle when a direct USB connection is far more portable and hassle free. Secondly. This unit is not plug and play for “Active Sync” needs to be installed for your computer to talk to the device, this makes it a pain if you need to connect to multiple computers like the one’s at Uni. Thirdly it would have been nice to be able to connect a thumb drive to the unit for this would make data storage far more portable.

Perhaps the biggest issue with this product is the associated social implications. With Jornada's internet capabilities coupled with it's portability, one wonders whether it's impact on society is positive? We seem to be getting increasingly isolated from each other creating a bubble like barrier where we connect through technology and eliminate the need for human contact.

Mohatta suggests a similar thing "There may be a day, when no one needs to come out of home. Now, even marriages are webcast, so that relatives can bless the couple online without needing to come over. What more can they think of?" http://www.comptechlib.com/590.html

Ratings
According to Thaddeus Computing 2006 even though this PDA is fairly old now being relesed in the year 2000 it is still very much alive for it is such a robust little device that really hasn't been replaced yet with anything worth while

Other Review magazines rate the device highly giving it five out of five stars 2006 Ziff Davis Publishing Holdings Inc. (pc mag.com)

"lightest, most convenient web surfing machine" Shopping.com These guys also give it 5 out of 5 stars also

My Rating
Finally I give the product four out of five stars for the keyboard is good but a little small and the connectivity is limited. Being a confessed geek i can say the jornada can definitely be used as a primary comunication device thus limiting the need for human contact which has it's pro's and cons

The price is definetly a put off making it one of the most expensive PDA's around - but hey you get what you pay for and if you can afford it, go nuts.

Design Arguments: Taste Profile

2006-06-20T00:36:00.000-07:00

Taste Profile Questions
1. Favourite Television Show in the last 2 years. How many hours television do you watch a week? UNANSWERED

2. What sort of camera do you have? What do you take pictures of: events, friends and relatives, things I find interesting, beautiful things?
I have 2 cameras one is a traditional SLR film camera and the other is a Cannon 750 7meg/pix point and shoot. Take pictures of mainly events and friends and relatives.

3. What sort of car would you like to drive? How often would you get under the bonnet of that car?
I’d drive an easy maintenance car but not one that costs a fortune eg Subaru

4. Do you play a musical instrument? Which? Play the Guitar and the Piano

5. List your most favourite and least favourite type of music? Rock would come first then everything else in second, except rap and techno, that comes last

6. Which of the following would you visit or attend at least twice a year: art galleries, museums, public lectures, public libraries, political meetings, demonstrations or rallies? UNANSWERED

7. List 4 films you have seen in the last year, from favourite to least favourite, and indicate how you saw them (cinema, video/dvd rental, video/dvd owned, pay TV, free-to-air TV)? UNANSWERED

8. What is your favourite sport or game to play? What is your favourite sport or game to watch? Favourite sport to play would by squash favourite sport to watch would be soccer or tennis

9. Where would like to travel to (apart from to friends or relatives)? Everywhere especially Japan and Canada and Europe

10. What is your primary source of news? To what extent to do you take an interest in the news? Primary source is probably the radio. Don’t really take that much interest in the news

11. Should the government be spending more or less funding on: tax relief, sport, the arts, the environment? Should be spending more money on these things

12. Which country are you from? Could you live in a country other than where you were raised for the rest of your life? From Poland brought up in Australia. Will always call Australia home, although wouldn’t mind living somewhere else for a while

13. Where do you tend to meet your friends: at each other’s homes, shopping centres, pubs or clubs, cafes and restaurants, parks or exercising? Pubs, each other’s homes and parks or exercising

Design Arguments: taste profile

2006-06-19T09:14:00.000-07:00

Taste Profile Questions1. Favourite Television Show in the last 2 years. How many hours television do you watch a week? UNANSWERED 2. What sort of camera do you have? What do you take pictures of: events, friends and relatives, things I find interesting, beautiful things?I have 2 cameras one is a traditional SLR film camera and the other is a Cannon 750 7meg/pix point and shoot. Take pictures of mainly events and friends and relatives.3. What sort of car would you like to drive? How often would you get under the bonnet of that car? I’d drive an easy maintenance car but not one that costs a fortune eg Subaru 4. Do you play a musical instrument? Which? Play the Guitar and the Piano5. List your most favourite and least favourite type of music? Rock would come first then everything else in second, except rap and techno, that comes last6. Which of the following would you visit or attend at least twice a year: art galleries, museums, public lectures, public libraries, political meetings, demonstrations or rallies? UNANSWERED7. List 4 films you have seen in the last year, from favourite to least favourite, and indicate how you saw them (cinema, video/dvd rental, video/dvd owned, pay TV, free-to-air TV)? UNANSWERED8. What is your favourite sport or game to play? What is your favourite sport or game to watch? Favourite sport to play would by squash favourite sport to watch would be soccer or tennis9. Where would like to travel to (apart from to friends or relatives)? Everywhere especially Japan and Canada and Europe10. What is your primary source of news? To what extent to do you take an interest in the news? Primary source is probably the radio. Don’t really take that much interest in the news11. Should the government be spending more or less funding on: tax relief, sport, the arts, the environment? Should be spending more money on these things12. Which country are you from? Could you live in a country other than where you were raised for the rest of your life? From Poland brought up in Australia. Will always call Australia home, although wouldn’t mind living somewhere else for a while13. Where do you tend to meet your friends: at each other’s homes, shopping centres, pubs or clubs, cafes and restaurants, parks or exercising? Pubs, each other’s homes and parks or exercising

Whatever

2006-06-18T20:36:00.000-07:00

first blog nothing to say