An Introduction to Firefox’s Tab Candy from Aza Raskin on Vimeo.

Ever since these videos started hitting the web a few days ago I have been trying to wrap my head around the new addition to Mozilla’s FireFox, “Tab Candy” … Why? Why do I need a desktop within a desktop? The web changes, even when you dont want it to. So does the desktop metaphor work for what ultimately amount to bookmarks? The bottom line is, Mozilla didn’t invent anything here, they simply took the GUI that we are all used to and left out the folders in favor of Apple-esque stacks and applied it to the web.

Perhaps the single most interesting aspect of this product, is its that it hints towards the future of the relationship between personal computers and the internet. In some ways this could be the first widely adopted desktop in the cloud.

Apple Computer's iPad

This past week Apple Computer announced it’s highly anticipated tablet. Now christened with the somewhat odd monicker “iPad” the product surfaced as what basically amounts to an iPod Touch XL. The bare bones feature-set combined with a handful of functional holes make the iPad a tough sell as a game changing computer. It’s also raises the question: How this device fits into the consumer home?

As a professional, I’m not sure what I would do with a device like the iPad. It’s not a phone, communication device (of any sort) and it’s also not a computer. So, what is it? I guess it’s somewhere in between. Like the iPod, it is a device that is built around consumption, intended to bring what was once static media (magazines, newspapers etc) to the interactive space.

In the end you can look at the iPad in one of two ways. It is either a crippled computer or an amazingly feature-rich eReader. With competition like Amazon’s Kindle on the market at a comparable price point, I would expect Apple’s iPad to shine. I would also speculate that the iPad is a prelude to a growing suite of touch-driven devices.

I spend a lot of time reading about design processes, comparing and contrasting different approaches found within design savvy organizations. Although I have read about Apple Computer’s design process several times, last night I took a refresher.

The essence of Apple’s approach to design is 10-3-1. The basics of the process are fairly simple:
- Designers come up with 10 entirely different solutions for the product (this applies to all features, software and products)
- Later those 10 designs are whittled down to 3
- Fianally, a winner is selected and built

For each of the 14 phases of the process, pixel perfect mock-ups are generated. This “removes ambiguity” in the design development process, which ultimately results in less revisions down the road. Considering the number of products (both software and hardware) that Apple generates, it is amazing that Apple is able to design 14 pixel-perfect design candidates for every 1 it delivers to the market.

Check out the Business Week write up on Apple’s design process here >

Braun Pocket Radio circa the 1960's and Jonathan Ive's iPod

Today I was browsing through Fast Company’s write-up of  ”The Decade’s 14 Biggest Design Moments” and in the beginning of the  list was “2002: Midcentury Modern Renaissance”. The list continued to include several items that themselves were filled with hues of design past (smaller is better ideals, iPod, propaganda posters etc). It struck me, because I was not expecting a look back to be one of the biggest “moments” of today. Recently, I watched an indy film called “RiP A Remix Manifesto“, the film focused on a generation of music which borrowed pieces of it’s past to create it’s present. When reviewing Fast Company’s Design moments it was clear that this extended to design as well. We are a generation of remixers.