UX Design, History, and The "Eternity Myth"

Modern software is an amazing example of unplanned obsolescence.

Few people think about how user experience changes over time.  This is a particularly brazen oversight when speaking of Web sites; and it becomes downright ludicrous when it comes to feed readers, social networks, and other systems whose content increases geometrically over time by design.

Help Me Understand The (Information) Environment

Experiment # 1 in a Series

I'm working on a book.  Because its premise is easily purloined, I need to be coy (for now) about the exact subject.  But I can reveal that a big part of the book is a series of exercises designed to make us more aware of our environments -- our homes, offices, cars, elevators, any place we spend time.  My specific interest is in information as a material ingredient of those environments.

To My Sofa Surfing Sensei (all 17 of them)

I have been homeless since February 1, 2010.  I mean this in both the sentimental sense of having no place to call home, and the practical sense of having no dwelling of my own.

In nearly ten months, I have yet to spend a night on the street.  That day may yet come, and whenever it does, it will come too soon.  But, while I will strive to avoid it, I feel I am now ready for it.