Because so many of us look at screens all day the aesthetics of information technology need a little more attention. I've been trying to convince people of that for a while.
Right now I'm trying to convince Microsoft. That logo, the font, that butterfly…. well people's expectations of how things should look and the aesthetic values they impart have changed and various aspects of IT coverage and symbolism are out of time, over-influenced by function and benefits.
So you might say how should IT products look and what values should they impart. That's a matter of imagination and of realising the changing role that information technology plays in our lives. Like, we don't call it IT anymore. We call if social software. Social software needs a different aesthetic, something imbued with the wider artistic values that our societies strive for.
IT companies however are resistant to that notion, seeing themselves largely as engineers rather than communicators. Again a strange phenomenon. People who create change in double quick time are reluctant to address the need for change in their own outlook and sensibility. I'm waiting on Microsoft to come back to me but meanwhile am pursuing the same theme with the Wall St Journal and the Irish Times.
