Luke Wroblewski:

“The problem is design is being segmented into too many specialties (information architecture, interaction design, visual design, etc.) which leaves designers without a complete understanding of their medium(s). If you don’t know your medium- how can you communicate through it?”

Umair Haque

“Now, the point is that of course very few people will invest a great deal of time in individualizing their choices in an exploding consumptionscape. That’s exactly the opportunity for all things 2.0 – that’s why and how they create very real economic value; or, conversely, why blockbusters create less and less value.”

Steve Gillmor:

“The attention revolution is not about what we do, it’s about what we aspire to do. If I can get this much done today, how can I do more tomorrow? If this is true, then what else is true?”

David Weinberger, on Bush’s request for an additional $120,000,000,000:

“What if we earmarked $200 billion to make the world more peaceful? Which would be the better investment? Which would make our children safer?”

Dick Hardt:

“A goal of Identity 2.0 is to mimic aspects of identity transactions that work well in the physical world.”

1. Go to your favorite blog.
2. Find the email address of the owner.
3. Email them and tell them what you think.

I’ve done this about 5 times over the past few days. I got to thinking while I was in Seattle last week meeting folks whose writing I truly enjoy that I don’t really tell them that. I mean, they could die tomorrow and never know that I really appreciate what they’re doing. For all they know, they might be like one of the three folks in Garden State yelling into the gorge.

All five times have been rewarding. I don’t always get a reply, or I get one indirectly, but at least they know that even though I’m lurking I do appreciate the work they do. It only takes 30 seconds.

Have you gestured a hug toward a blogger today?

Could someone answer why Google doesn’t provide a paid version of Gmail?

It would seem to make sense on several levels:

1. Revenue from something other than Advertising. Google’s recent stock dip suggests that ad revenue might not grow like mad forever.
2. It would make their free email service look better.
3. Some people (executives, usually) just like to pay for stuff. Don’t know why…
4. It could possibly pay for the incredible hosting costs of supporting Gmail.
5. Their investors might sleep a little sounder.

Continue Reading: Why Not a Paid Version of Gmail?

Kathy Sierra, soft-spoken in person, kick-ass writer, on her time at Search Champs:

“Usability schmusability… where’s the part where we talk about how this helps the user kick-ass?”

Kathy’s doing great work: Here’s her feed.

Boy, this one is right up my current alley (see yesterday):

Richard MacManus interviews Digg founder Kevin Rose:

“The problem with rating individual users is that it really doesn’t scale well. We have 160,000 registered users and it would be impossible for everyone to go through and directly rate everyone else. What we have created, which is quickly becoming a popular way to discover new stories, is our friends system. This enables you to create a group of trusted users who read each others articles and trust each others content.”

Ed Batista on Wikipedia:

“Of course we sacrifice accuracy at the micro level–with no editorial apparatus constraining the system, anything you read at any given moment could be total bullshit. But in a free, open and fluid intellectual market, bad ideas will eventually be driven out by better ones–and sooner rather than later.”