It must have been sometime near mid-December when I first actually saw and used — albeit briefly — a Nexus One. A Googler, the owner, graciously let me use it for a bit after receiving it as part of the Google corporate gift that the device got — more a publicity stunt rather than an actual trial in my opinion. More encounters with the phone, again owned by friends or acquaintances working for Google, let me get a clearer look at what widely became an online sensation over the holiday season, generating too much buzz, well before sites like techcrunch, gizmodo, engadget et al. started publishing early, unofficial reviews.

And what I saw was good, even great in some respects, although far from what Google tries to make it seem. The Nexus One is far from just another smartphone; it is a message and a demonstration. A message from Google to the telcos, that the company is seeking a departure from the status quo. A demonstration, to everyone, but mostly perhaps to manufacturers, and Google’s competitors, that the platform, in this crucial moment where expectations are high and the mindshare is there and the spotlight is on them, of the standard that Google is seeking with regards to device design and also regarding the control it has on the software that runs on those devices.
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Έάν μπορούσε κανείς να κατατάξει σε έναν κατάλογο τους λόγους για τους οποίους η Αθήνα πάσχει ως πόλη, είμαι βέβαιος πως τα πεζοδρόμια (ή μάλλον η έλλειψη αυτών), παρ’ότι φαινομενικά ελάσσων και κοσμητικός λόγος, είναι ίσως βασική έλλειψη της πόλης που συμπαρασύρει σειρά προβλημάτων, όπως το κυκλοφοριακό, η έλλειψη πρασίνου κλπ.

Είναι δύσκολο σε κάποιον εκτός της πολεοδομίας και των απανταχού Δήμων της Ελλάδος να κατανοήσει αφ’ενός γιατί τα πεζοδρόμια έχουν φάρδος που απ’ότι φαίνεται απευθύνεται σε μικρά τετράποδα και όχι σε ανθρώπους, και αφ’ετέρου γιατί συχνά συναντά κανείς μικρά σχετικά δέντρα ή άλλα φυτά φυτεμένα στο κέντρο αυτών και αφημένα στην τύχη τους, με ελάχιστο χώρο για να αναπτύξουν τις ρίζες τους και συχνά χωρίς νερό.

Παρατηρώντας τη κατάσταση των πεζοδρομίων στην Αθήνα, θα έλεγε κανείς πως η κατασκευή τους είναι τυπολατρική· τηρεί πιστά κάποιους καλοπροαίρετους πλήν όμως αποτυχημένους κανόνες που επιβάλλουν την ύπαρξη ίσως του πεζοδρομίου αυτού καθεαυτού, την ύπαρξη δέντρων και άλλων φυτών και ένα ίσως (αστείο) ελάχιστο φάρδος, αλλά αποτυγχάνουν στο ζητούμενο: να δημιουργήσουν ένα ποιοτικό, βιώσιμο δίκτυο πεζοδρομίων όπου πεζοί πολίτες θα μπορούν να μετακινούνται με ασφάλεια ενώ παράληλλα θα περιτριγυρίζονται από χώρους πρασίνου.
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Just a few weeks (?) before the rumoured availability of the Apple tablet (whatever its name is), here’s a recent demonstration of what the display, miniature electronics and battery technology may lead to in the near future in the context of magazines. If everything that we’ve heard about the impending release of the Apple tablet is true, I guess there’s a chance that the paper magazine may soon follow the CD and DVD as items of yesteryear. If anything, I am excited about the ecological, typographical and æsthetic consequences such a device might bring, but also somewhat concerned about the loss of the openness that the web has brought us in the last fifteen years or so. [via Mosh].

Mag+ from Bonnier on Vimeo.

Update: Here’s another video featuring a tablet version of Sports Illustrated.

Sports Illustrated – Tablet Demo 1.5 from The Wonderfactory on Vimeo.

One of the most impressive and original groups that I’ve listened to in the past few years, I’ve been meaning to write something more substantial about this for ages, but never got around to doing it. Difficult, but warm, exceptionally rich in sounds and meaning and at the same time simple, even minimalist in structure, but above all uncategorisable, The Books [on Wikipedia] make music that I’ve come to love more than most in the few years that I’ve been aware of them. It’s not just the rhythmic patterns, the exceptional sampling of natural sounds, the vocals and dialogues, the instruments that are presented in such a subtle, refined way, but the extreme attention to detail and extremely artful manner in which effects, speech samples, sounds and acoustic instruments come together in a glorious reminder of how great real music can be, no matter whether it is the result of natural or artificial means. This is not a band keen on posturing or interested in demonstrating technical prowess; their music is timeless precisely because it focuses on what matters and does away with trends. The music of The Books has soul, but at the same time retains a musical sophistication that’s rare. Open minds and open ears required.