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[microsound] interface culture vs digital lifestyle



> I find it surprising that no-one has
> raised the issue of the disparity between the business' aims and the
> client's needs.  Each of these have multiple facets which makes it very
> difficult to build up an "ideal" user interface or user experience.  Larger
> companies like apple, Microsoft, real etc...  all have a vested interest in
> making their products "cool" and pervasive.

<longish rant> 

I'd like to do extend this concept to *certain* software coming out of Apple
at the moment...namely the GarageBand product which is aimed at beginner
musicians...let me just say here that I think Apple creates insanely great
product most of the time...but...
I was asked by Wired to supply a sound bite reflecting my opinion concerning
GarageBand...so of course they placed my sound bite/quote right on the home
page of that days Wired News and I got a rather pissy response from the
marketing manager of GaragebBand later...see link for the whole article...my
quote is on page 2:

http://www.wired.com/news/mac/0,2125,62204,00.html?tw=wn_culthead_11

the marketing manager for GarageBand couldn't figure out why I would have
possibly said what I did (especially in public!) and his email was written
in the expected techno-utopian babble-speak...not that I don't love computer
technology/software as much as he does...anyone who knows me also knows what
a Max/MSP/Jitter/laptop fiend I am...it's just that he couldn't see any of
the political/economic issues in creating a product such as GarageBand for a
'potential' market of beginner budding musicians...

here are a few issues I raised in my response to the GB marketing manager:
promoting a 'digital lifestyle' is just a marketing term for creating
consumer desire through subtle messaging/advertising...the word 'sexy' is a
descriptive phrase to turn our attention to as it drives certain impulses
and desires in the consumer that are false...they are implanted in the
consumer in order for a company to sell you things you don't really need --
this is not an altruistic attempt to improve your life on their part...I
find it strange that a company famous for their '1984/big brother' TV ad
back in 1984 and who also sold the 'Think Different' ad campaign to us
during the dot.com bubble is now peddling watered-down music software so the
masses can 'explore their hidden potential as creative beings'...

the marketing of 'cool,' 'sexy,' or 'life-style' software is what went wrong
with the software industry...it reduces most people to nothing more than a
potential candidate for 'American Idol'...it achieves the same effect as TV
commercials: they simply sell you your leisure time...

is Apple succeeding in replacing the derogatory prefix of 'Mc' (e.g., McJob,
McMusic) with 'i' (e.g., iJob, iMusic)?

think different!

</longish rant>


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