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Whack Pack
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Roger von Oech sent me his Ball of Whacks to experience first hand (sic). Each of the identical pieces of plastic have a magnetic signature to them that creates unique constraints when sticking the puzzle together. I have very little patience for puzzles, but nonetheless had fun playing with a few “whacks.”

Roger felt that his puzzle embodied the ideas of simplicity. I could see his point. Easy to take apart, feels good, creates a quick emotion-al bond. But this toy is definitely not for small children in the house because each “whack” is perfectly shaped for a journey into the mouth (of course there is an explicit warning on the box).

newer. better?

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I’ve been watching the slow and steady accrual of votes to the iPod interface poll. The leader right now by a wide margin is the current interface for the iPod. However from comments I’ve received during speaking engagements, I’m convinced that the data I’m seeing here might be misleading. Some people really don’t like the current interface, and instead prefer one of the previous design options. I suspect that this minority may not be as vocal as the majority.

The same can be said about digital cameras. I know that I much prefer the interface of the older, 2004 Canon SD200 to its newer brethren like the SD700. The simple horizontal lever on the SD200 makes it easy to choose between: play, movie, or camera; on the SD700 I get lost in all the menus and the tiny mode-dial with five options instead of three.

There must be some sort of business opportunity out there like “Pimp My Ride” where the opposite gets done. Call it “Un-pimp my Gadget.” I’ll be first in line.

Tiny Bubbles

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My journalistic mentor is Jack Driscoll, former Editor-in-Chief of the Boston Globe. He recently asked me a simple question, “How does a reader respond to your blog?” It then occured to me in my efforts to design a simplified layout, I had made it entirely unclear how to post a comment as I maybe reduce-ed too much. The answer is to click on the tiny bubble below. There. With this little bit of knowledge, I have satisfied learn and simplification is now realized. Phew.

Late to the Parade

My article for last week’s Parade Magazine is now visible by virtue of the gods of online advertising right here.

Here Comes the Parade
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I wrote an article entitled “How To Keep It Simple” for today’s edition of Parade Magazine. It’s a simplified version of the Laws which I think works better for the 34 million of Parade readers that face the daunting task of shopping for the holiday gift-giving season. As a huge fan of The Office it’s a personal victory for me to appear on the same spread in the magazine. Long live Dwight!