Apple has recently filed more patents on some even more ridiculous multi-touch technology. I’m all for progress, but there are certain things that, in my mind, we will always need physical buttons and switches for; typing documents on a computer with any hope of efficiency and re-setting a frozen computer. Multi-touch also brings about another whole new problem… learning the gestures. Keys have a label, we know that they do one function. Multi-touch touchpads on your laptop are unintuitive as you cannot see yourself interacting with the object, the one instance where multi-touch belongs, on screen.

Some of the patents filed have described “haptic” feedback in their patented multi-touch keyboard. Apple already has haptic feedback implemented on some of their products and you probably didn’t even know it, The Apple Mighty Mouse. The switching mechanism in the mouse doesn’t make any noise when you use the scroll wheel. There is a small speaker in the mouse itself that simulates the sound of the ball scrolling. You’ve been duped.

I’ve had enough of hearing about their brilliant human interaction design. There is no magic there folks, just some good ole’ common sense. Some people have their qualms with the way things are laid out, but on the whole its hard to argue with something that MAKES SENSE. Honestly, why do I have to click Start to Shut down my computer? Lets be clear here, I’m not saying Windows doesn’t have a thought out and intuitive layout, unintuitive layouts are the domain of Linux (flamebait?).

And while I’m pissing and moaning… Before you all go off and get bent on the MacBook Air, think about a few things for me will you? No replaceable battery, one USB port, no optical drive, no 3G. This device clearly wasn’t designed for road warriors, it was designed to be a fashion accessory and a design exercise and nothing more. I want that point to be quite clear. Think that the Air is more than that? Prove it.

I wasn’t around to witness gas at $0.25 a gallon, nor the $0.05 candy bar, but I wish that cars were more affordable. Todays particular case: The 2009 Dodge Challenger.

Dodge recently released the pricing on the new Challenger: $37,995. The price for a 1970 Challenger with a Hemi : $6,100 (About $32,000 in 2006 money). Now, depending upon your prospective, $6,000 may not sound like a lot, but the fact of the matter is that six thousand dollars is a 16.7% increase. Now here is the kicker; Dodge will only be making 5000 of these in their first year of production. Because of this, and the rabid consumerism in America, there will inevitably be dealers charging a premium ON TOP of the MSRP. Some have even been so bold as to create an ebay auction to dictate how much OVER the MSRP you’re willing to pay. The auction has closed already with the winning “buy it now” option being 50% of the cars base price!!!

In reality, this car really wasn’t made for 24 year olds who want to go fast. It was made for the baby boomers who dominate the wealth in America. For the boy-racer, there is the Mazdaspeed 3.

Heck, at least these people paying too much might have a collectible on their hands. Unlike those iPhone suckers early adopters that got the shaft with their near instantaneous devaluation of their toy. Most of which will probably end up in the trash in two years time.

No, that hasn’t changed. I still hate iPods. The Zune never changed the world and it all came back to the same reason: DRM.

Today I digitally purchased music without DRM. This is the day I never thought would come. Mark it on your calendars.

In case you didn’t know Amazon has been selling MP3’s without any DRM or other wonky “gotcha” schemes. They have a fairly large catalog, but its nowhere near as extensive as iTunes. Who fucking cares about iTunes? The MP3’s are high quality, 256kbps, with album art included. The only snag I had was I tried to download them at work on a computer running OSX 10.3 and the downloader tool only supports 10.4+ so I wound up purchasing tracks one at a time. The beauty? I put them on my new Iriver Clix2, my Mac at work, my HTPC and my laptop. No burning to CD, ripping, copying pasting, syncing or any other horse shit.

I’m actually so blown away that I can’t even believe its legal. I still feel like I’ve stolen something. Try it now. If you don’t, you’re letting yourself and the world down.

This is how it should have been done YEARS AGO. BRAVO Amazon. BRA-VO.

Bring on the snow.

Design Fckr
Not necessarily updated that often, but provides a good mix of Advertising, Illustration, and Graphic Design.

Monoscope
More artwork than Advertising or Design. Updated fairly frequently.

Flickr
Anything you want. Book covers to murals to brochures. Not always the best quality, but you never know until you look.

This is by no means the be-all-end-all of lists. I’d be interested to see where other people find their inspiration. Bonus butt-kissing points if you say my blog!