From Designing Products with Sound by Amber Case and Aaron Day:
Sound eases cognitive burdens.
Sound is also a powerful brand differentiator.
Sound is emotional.
Finally, sound impacts productivity.
But also:
Not every product needs sound design.
Simon St. Laurent on uncertainty as a feature, not a bug.
As much as I like “the Web Platform” sparing me syllables over HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and more, Jeremy Keith is right: treating the web as a platform with all the brittle expectations of a platform is a terrible idea.
Rob Larsen was published a book with O’Reilly called “The Uncertain Web: Web Development in a Changing Landscape”. I like it:
A refreshingly honest look at the chaotic, wonderful world of web development, with handy, practical advice for making future-friendly, backward-compatible websites.
The foreword to the O’Reilly book.
I make websites. Sometimes I make music. Over the years, I’ve noticed an interesting pattern of behavior from some musicians—often self-taught—who think of themselves as creative types: they display an aversion to learning any music theory. The logic, they say, is that knowing the theory behind music will somehow constrain their creative abilities. I’ve never understood that logic (and I secretly believe that it’s a retroactive excuse for a lack of discipline). To my mind, I just don’t see how any kind of knowledge or enlightenment could be a bad thing.
Alas, I have seen the same kind of logic at work in the world of web design. There are designers who not only don’t know how to write markup and CSS, they actively refuse to learn. Again, they cite the fear of somehow being constrained by this knowledge (and again, I believe that’s a self-justifying excuse).
In the world of front-end development, that attitude is fortunately far less prevalent. Most web devs understand that there’s always more to learn. But even amongst developers who have an encyclopediac knowledge of HTML and CSS, there is often a knowledge gap when it comes to the Document Object Model. That’s understandable. You don’t need to understand the inner workings of the DOM if you’re using a library like jQuery. The whole point of JavaScript libraries is to abstract away the browser’s internal API and provide a different, better API instead.
Nonetheless, I think that many front-end devs have a feeling that they should know what’s going on under the hood. That’s the natural reaction of a good geek when presented with a system they’re expected to work with. Now, thanks to DOM Enlightenment, they can scratch that natural itch.
Douglas Crockford gave us a map to understand the inner workings of the JavaScript language in his book JavaScript: The Good Parts. Now Cody Lindley has given us the corresponding map for the Document Object Model. Armed with this map, you’ll gain the knowledge required to navigate the passageways and tunnels of the DOM. ix
You might not end up using this knowledge in every project. You might decide to use a library like jQuery instead. But now it will be your decision. Instead of having to use a library because that’s all that you know, you can choose if and when to use a library. That’s a very empowering feeling. That’s what knowledge provides. That is true enlightenment.
A browser-based ePub reader. ‘Cause it’s (X)HTML all the way down, baby.
Jonathan Stark's book is available online, in HTML, for free.
Create your own O'Reilly book cover. Maybe you have to be a geek to find this amusing. I find this amusing.
Lobbycon: The practice of schmoozing in lobbies at expensive technology conferences, often without paying. The term is inspired by the lingo of conference names, the titles of which sometimes end with "con."
Because if you use Tim O'Reilly's sherrif badge, the terrorists have already won.
Brian's PDF book on microformats is now available from O'Reilly for $9.99. Congratulations, Mr. Suda!
A fun debate featuring Tim O'Reilly, Esther Dyson, Malcom Gladwell, Clay Shirky and Moby.