I’ve just finished reading a fascinating article published by Business Week. It’s about how employees in many major corporations are demanding requesting Mac’s instead of PC’s. Here’s the amazing thing… Since 1997 when Steve Jobs returned to Apple, they’ve avoided the corporate market, choosing to focus all their attention on the consumer market… and the results are staggering. Here’s a short excerpt from the article:

In the March quarter, Mac sales blew away all forecasts, soaring 51% over the previous year, or more than three times the rate for the personal-computer industry. Throw in the iPod and iPhone, and Apple’s total sales have surged from $5.2 billion in fiscal 2002 to $24 billion last year. Its share price has risen 2,300% over the past five years, giving the company a market capitalization, at $154 billion, that tops those of tech giants Hewlett-Packard, Dell, and Intel.

So… sales of $24 billion, without focusing any energy on the corporate market! Market research shows that Apple only holds about 2.19% of the business market share, but in today’s increasingly employee-centric market, corporates will have no choice but to submit and give employees what they want. And when that happens, Stevie’s smile will no doubt be even wider.

Ingenious business strategy or a massive stroke of luck?

Make sure you check out the article: The Mac in the Grey Flannel Suit

In case you haven’t heard of Papervision 3D, it’s an open-source 3D engine developed for the Flash platform. Click here to see an example of the tech in action (all you need is Flash 9 installed). Until recently, 3D within Flash has been near impossible to achieve. Papervision 3D has opened up a whole new world of possibilities in terms of how we conceptualise an online experience - quite literally anything is now possible.

Sites making use of Papervision 3D are springing up all over the place. Here are just a few examples of some truly amazing Papervision 3D experiences:

• Red Bull Flight Lab
• Audi RS6
• 2008 Honda Accord
• Monster Burnout
• Black XS
• Audi “Rhythm of Lines”
• Sony Bravia
• Paper Critters

I’m really hoping to see some rocking Papervision 3D sites coming out of South Africa soon. But I fear the worst… there seems to be only a handful of really good Flashers who are capable of understanding and using Papervision, and by the looks of things, most of them are spread too thinly with their day-jobs (rolling out corporate widgets and conventional Flash work) to invest the time needed in getting over the steep PV3d learning curve.

Oh, big-ups to Hello Computer for being the first studio in SA to use the technology a Papervision 3D site: Moonlighting

Anyone else seen any Papervision work coming out of SA?

I’ve just found out about a Cape Town based Wordpress group:

The Wordpress Meetups Cape Town is a monthly gathering of Wordpress enthusiasts, developers, hackers, designers and other interested in learning and sharing Wordpress knowledge. We aim to solve problems, push the boundaries of Wordpress usage and generally make noise about all things Wordpress related.

A group of guys and gals geeking out over Wordpress for three hours once a month? I’m so there.

The next meeting is on the 28th May - 4pm at the Bandwidth Barn. Find out more here.

Fantasy-Interactive (Fi) have just launched their highly anticipated new website. If any of you know Fi, you’ll know they are famous for creating highly engaging Flash portals and microsites. They were also the first company to enter the highly acclaimed FWA Hall of Fame. I must admit - I’m over the moon with the fact that they have opted for a non-Flash website. Here’s an extract from their website regarding the decision to use HTML:

Our sites used to reach out, grab the user, shake them vigorously and scream, “Made by Fantasy Interactive!” Fi was notorious for developing everything and anything in Flash, Today in Fi, you will only find Flash in places it needs to be and fits. Looking back over the past nine years, the average website has matured substantially. Choosing the correct technology is imperative for a company’s goals.

We’re just about to kick off the redesign of stonewall.co.za, and we’re also opting for an HTML-based website, but it’s taken some time to reach this decision. Sure, nothing can beat the fluidity and energy of a Flash website (provided you get it right), but gone are the days of “Flashmania” - Flash for Flash’s sake.

A short while ago, the anti-Flash argument usually went something like this:

Flash websites take ages to load, and search engines cannot read and index their content.

These days, this is totally untrue. If a Flash website is built right, it can be SUPER-fast, and search engines will index their content without any issues. That said, there is still a strong argument against using Flash purely “because we can”. The choice of technology should always be based around the requirements.

If the requirement is the rapid browsing and delivery of content, HTML simply can’t be beaten.

I could seriously talk about Flash vs HTML for hours, but rather than bore you, check out the comment chain on Fi’s blog (Think Swedish) in response to the new website - it’s far more juicy!

I’m a big believer in reading motivational books. Sadly, there seems to be a stigma attached to books of this nature… Some proclaim that so-called “self-help” books only exist for those who can’t self-motivate or those who refuse to help themselves. What absolute rubbish!

I believe we’re all prone to negative emotions from time to time - feelings of complacency, stagnation, stress, melancholy, depression, etc. How we choose to deal with these emotions defines our character and sets us apart.

From my experience, regular reading of motivational books help me stay positive, and keeps me focused and conscious of (a) who I am, (b) who I want to be, and (c) where I’m heading. I’ve also found that I’m better equipped to recognize and deal with negative emotions early on. So without further a due, here’s my top 10 list of the best (personal and business) motivational reads:

1. Eugene Peterson - The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language
2. Tom Peters - Reimagine!: Business Excellence in a Disruptive Age
3. Robin Sharma - The Greatness Guide
4. Paul Arden - It’s Not How Good You Are, Its How Good You Want to Be
5. Seth Godin - The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick)
6. Robin Sharma - The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari
7. Henry Cloud - Integrity: The Courage to Meet the Demands of Reality
8. Seth Godin - Small Is the New Big
9. Randy Pausch - The Last Lecture
10. Eckhart Tolle - A New Earth

So what would be on your list?

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the word design. I think it’s a word that has been completely bastardized of late, particularly in the context of web design and web designers.

Design, usually considered in the context of applied arts, engineering, architecture, and other creative endeavors, is used both as a noun and a verb. As a verb, “to design” refers to the process of originating and developing a plan for a product, structure, system, or component. As a noun, “a design” is used for either the final (solution) plan (e.g. proposal, drawing, model, description) or the result of implementing that plan (e.g. object produced, result of the process).
Ref: Wikipedia

It seems that these days, all you need in order to be considered a “web designer” is a pirated version of Photoshop and Dreamweaver (and let’s not forget a bookmark to TemplateMonster).

To “design” implies a rational process of problem-solving. To solve a problem, one needs to define what the problem is. Yes - the problem might be that “this interface looks crap”, in which case the solution would involve a big dose of style. However, more often than not, the work we produce involves a user experience of some kind - and user experience involves far more than just style.

It seems I’m not the only one frustrated with this issue. Here’s some food for thought:

• F*ck style
• You are not a designer