Unity Bond

Short Text or Long Text?

2012-03-22T14:36:00.002+08:00

Recently read an article about how internet changes how we read and what we gotten into reading...

With the advancement of the tech, and also thanks to the creation of SMS and Twitter and whole lot more similar messaging network. Factual sources have proved that the more days we spent on computers, staring and scanning through the texts on screen would decrease the reading rate time spent on books. (physically real book)

Ever tried reading a lengthy book or long articles and end up skimming through for the points or just directly skipped it. Instead, we would go for short paragraphs texts which convey shorter, precise and more concise messages.

But it contradict, somehow, that how would you be able to interpret a short text while sometimes you just need to read the long winded explanation to understand it altogether? Ever try explaining the "process" in a short paragraph? More often than not, it may fail.

So short text or long text? Which one would you go for?

The "Halo" Effect

2011-02-06T02:05:00.003+08:00

The halo effect is a cognitive bias where the perception of one trait like a characteristic of a person or object is influenced by the perception of another trait of that person or object. An example would be judging a good-looking person as more intelligent.

That's the definition from Wikipedia. I do have my own perception when it comes to judging a person or object. Right now I don't want to write about my certain perception towards a person, so let me touch specifically on objects instead.

When we go to the shopping mall looking for electronics, for example, you might have probably look for the best, right? You surveyed the same category of products under a different brand, noting its specs and pricing. After all the fuss, you bought a fan from Panasonic instead, even though there were other brands that offers much more features under better price. Why?

The answer is brand loyalty. You are practicing a bias behaviour. You would expect that product you bought works great as the ones you already have, obviously under same branding. You don't care about the competing products out there because you knew the brands you used for years will have its future in your home. That's a halo effect.

For me, after I got my first iPod shuffle, I replace it with an iPod nano, followed by the iPod touch and now the iPad. Notice my brand loyalty towards Apple? You probably been affected by the halo effect as well, like once you bought a Hawaian Chicken-pizza from Pizza Hut, you don't even bother the others. This halo effect applies to a person as well, for example, you would think most kids are usually annoying, or most Malays are talkative (these two were negative perceptions, so please excuse that).

Note that the halo effect can lead to both positive and negative perceptions towards a person or object. Do keep this in mind.

When "Dumb" Technologies Matter

2011-01-24T14:00:00.004+08:00

These days, technology has moved to an even greater heights. You would have never thought your cellphone is more than just a phone. Or a TV that are often labelled 'extraordinary'. Looking back to the past makes us wonder if we'd never move beyond this, I would've probably write this entire article directly on my iPod touch (you heard right, I was trying to avoid my computer as part of my aims this year).

Back to the topic, if the technology has gotten smarter and smarter, are we the humans getting better and better? The answer is yes and no. I would say yes since technologies helps us determine and decide our decisions based on facts and answers generated by these stuff. It's also a 'no' for me due to several reasons. I'll elaborate more on this based on the real situation going on right now.

Let's start of with cellphones. Phones, as you pronounced it, are meant for calls and text messages. It should work and it just works the way you want. And with the help of the iPhone revealed since 2007, the smartphone revolution have begun. And suddenly everyone was trying to build a touchscreen smartphone. One wonders why. Before the iPhone, Microsoft had developed a similar smartphones with a touchscreen based on a stylus technology (which uses a pen as an input, and has a tip of a cursor similar to a computer). It failed miserably. My cousin happened to have one when he showed off to me how cool it is to use a touchscreen phone with a pen. I tried it, and it's awkward in every way possible. Why can't I just use fingers to touch and launch those programs? Is it due to our sausage-sized fingers, or Microsoft thinks using a pen makes us look cooler? Years later after I bought an iPod touch (which doesn't use a pen), he just mums. Onto your face!!! Who needs a pen to touch it, it's ridiculous!!

Okay, so what is this has got to do with the title? Remember I said above when suddenly everyone was making a smartphone? It turns out to be a vapor. Some has a slideout keyboards, some uses tiny icons and text that forces us to zoom in to see, some has the UI interface similar to Windows 98,... and the list goes on.

This is what a new problem came through. When a phone has gotten so smart that it even knew our exact location or able to check our pulse or blood pressure, everything starts to get complicated. You have to set up this and that, you have to read manuals to configure (do people still do this these days?). You probably wondering why can't the phone just works right out of the box, since it was so smart? Then, you probably regret making the purchase and decided to buy a dumbphone instead. It's simple, and it just works.

Phones are not the only technology that has gotten "smarter". Even our household appliances has gone to the same route as well. Take microwave ovens for example. How long does it took for you to configure the settings, the time, the heat, the whatever-setup-I-need-to-configure just to cook a cake or reheat a chicken? We're talking minutes! Traditional ovens? Its only seconds! You only have a temperature knob and the time knob. That's it! Simple right? You get to enjoy your meals fast without sacrificing your time and productivity.

Other than that is a washing machine or a dishwasher. Something that were once so simple to configure have gone complicated thanks to the geniuses of smart people. They should be smart enough to make technologies simple and efficient as possible.

Moving to a television world, the latest and the greatest TV has HD, lots of inputs and ports, and lots of buttons on the remote, while lots of time wasted just to make all things work. Google TV for example, it is so smart that it combines TV with the web. Means your TV have gotten interactive, which sounds great but in the end, it's a total flop. Nobody wants to search for "Justin Bieber" on a ridiculously ugly and small remote! It's stupid!

My wish is, don't make things complicated. It's not like I'm siding with my grandma for a simplicity but it is a benefit for everyone. Ask any person in this world, they hate complications. That's it! Simple as that. Now jot this down on your rulebook.

I wish everything was "dumb" again. Oh well...