I came across an interesting example today. Shopping at #M&S. Hadn't been for ages, only to find that to cut costs they have moved to fully automated tills. Whoever designed the system didn't have a craft mindset, because the experience and clunkiness was sufficient not to complete the transaction. Infrastructure at its most dismal.
Poignant, because back in the day I was a buyer there, and witnessing its journey from distinctive family owned icon to disappearing into a morass of mediocrity is sad.
It's a great point. I'm currently reading “on craftsmanship” by Christopher Frayling, and he talks about “invisible colleges of the mind” as a mode of connection. I like me that, it resonates with the point I think you're making. When he have so many routes and choices, how should we choose?
I came across an interesting example today. Shopping at #M&S. Hadn't been for ages, only to find that to cut costs they have moved to fully automated tills. Whoever designed the system didn't have a craft mindset, because the experience and clunkiness was sufficient not to complete the transaction. Infrastructure at its most dismal.
Poignant, because back in the day I was a buyer there, and witnessing its journey from distinctive family owned icon to disappearing into a morass of mediocrity is sad.
It's a great point. I'm currently reading “on craftsmanship” by Christopher Frayling, and he talks about “invisible colleges of the mind” as a mode of connection. I like me that, it resonates with the point I think you're making. When he have so many routes and choices, how should we choose?
Interesting thesis.
I wonder if we could make less is more mean a thing?
When I was growing up, we met at church, and when we had them, comic shops, book stores, and arcades.
It wasn't about clunk, as much as it was about being around people.