Resource Roundup: Things Agencies Should Know About

Every couple of weeks, I put together this list of stuff, and each time I feel like I have a better list than before. So, this is the best list yet! We’ve got our usual dose of Googlomania, interviews with talented designers, some book futurism, thoughts on the economics of the internet, and much, much more…

Imagine my surprise to see Google’s Eric Schmidt pontificating on how UK schools need to bring art and science back together. I thought wow, yeah, that’s true, but I still don’t trust you. Anyway, Ewan McIntosh’s reply was essentially, “Sure, that’s true, but yyyeah, we’re already doing that.” Snap.

Former HOW Editor and now food-writer-extrarodinaire Bryn Mooth interviewed Patrick McNeil and Cameron Moll—both fellow HOW Interactive Conference advisory board members and speakers—this week on all kinds of good stuff related to interactive design.

This was pretty interesting: James Bridle asked this week “if a generation of engineers and flexible corporate jobs produced a generation of creative technologists and freelancers, what will the first makers, the early adopters, result in?” Great question.

Adam Richardson wrote a great piece for frog’s DesignMind blog about how illogical and non-linear ideation can be valuable, and how what he calls post-rationalization can help to work out “why something is valuable after you’ve already come up with the solution.”

I’m linking straight to the comments on this MediaShift piece on Why Schools Should Stop Banning Cell Phones and Use Them for Learning because it’s an incredible online debate that you should really read.

Reminder: Environments Are Invisible.

Oh, and for you “book-futurists” out there, check out this blog-that-is-a-book/blog-that-became-a-book. It’s called I Work On A Starship.

If you’re more into listening/watching stuff, here are a few audio/video links worth your time. There were some particularly good things over the past couple of weeks:

This first one is really important. It’s an hour long so find a distraction-free time and place to watch it. Take notes. Jaron Lanier talks to Edge.org about The Local-Global Flip—essentially, the economics of the internet. Really excellent stuff, rife with plenty of challenging questions.

Arthur C. Clarke predicted the future in 1964. Seriously.

Speaking of the future, this video has been around for a while, but it’s worth looking at if you haven’t seen it: Immaterials: The Ghost in the Field explores the spatial qualities of RFID.

If you’re in need of some inspiration, this one is really wonderful. Jerry’s Map tells the story of one man’s creative journey building a world of his very own.

Lastly, just for fun, The Flaming Lips + Lightning Bolt present I’m Working at NASA on Acid.

That’s all for this week!