On the car ride across town I came up with a great analogy to explain the technological bottlenecks of upgrading computers. After chewing on it some more, I’ve decided to officially christen it The Hotel Analogy.

The Lobby

The first thing people ask about when upgrading their computer is “should I get more ram?”. In this analogy, RAM is the Lobby of our fictional hotel. It’s where data awkwardly hangs out on uncomfortable furniture when you’re working with it. Getting a bigger lobby only makes sense to a certain extent. One could argue you could never have enough RAM, but we’re not talking about your computer. For most people, an enormous lobby is overkill, expensive and sort of weird.

The Rooms

Hard drives are more like a large block of hotel Rooms than anything else. The speed of elevators can change depending on the format, but the concept remains the same. Everything comes down to getting data in and out of their Rooms. The main variable here is size, and that depends on individual needs. Whether data is coming or going from your hotel, it has to hang out in the Lobby and eventually deal with The Front Desk.

The Front Desk

The most important part of hotels is the Front Desk, or in this case, the Processor. Data entering and leaving your computer has to interact with the Front Desk to get its keys or give them back on the way out. Increasing the amount of people at the front desk can dramatically speed things up. But if your lobby is too small to fit everyone comfortably, continental breakfasts could get violent. Increasing the size of the lobby or the amount of rooms in the hotel has only so much effect on the bottom line.

Computers are a strange, confusing things to many people. Dealing with, and upgrading them can be a lot of work. Hopefully this analogy comes in handy next time someone you know asks about computers. It’ll help.

How to Explain Computers to Normal People

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Monday December 13th, 2010

Digitalism - Stratosphere

Digitalism - Stratosphere

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Tuesday November 2nd, 2010

I needed a place to explain to people why great software makes everything better, and my friends can only handle so much of my pestering. Some Nice Things is that place. There you’ll find an infrequently updated list of applications or services that I use and adore on a daily basis. Mostly popular, some weird, all great.
somenicethings:

Simple Note & Notational Velocity
Simple Note was at first an iPhone application, but as since expanded to an entire platform just for taking down text notes. As cliché as it sounds, its elegant simplicity is more than welcome in a world of bloated software. No save button, just notes.

I needed a place to explain to people why great software makes everything better, and my friends can only handle so much of my pestering. Some Nice Things is that place. There you’ll find an infrequently updated list of applications or services that I use and adore on a daily basis. Mostly popular, some weird, all great.

somenicethings:

Simple Note & Notational Velocity

Simple Note was at first an iPhone application, but as since expanded to an entire platform just for taking down text notes. As cliché as it sounds, its elegant simplicity is more than welcome in a world of bloated software. No save button, just notes.

Reblogged from Some Nice Things

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Tuesday September 14th, 2010

Le Loup - Morning Song

Yeah, this is that song from that annoying Blackberry commercial. Deal with it.

“Killer!”

Le Loup - Morning Song

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Monday August 23rd, 2010

Grasshopper found in Kaitlins parents garden.

Grasshopper found in Kaitlins parents garden.

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Saturday August 21st, 2010

We have a robot here at the office that consists of the back half of a bike and motor. Ghost Rider can be controlled remotely, and is used for endurance tests of the Pedal Brain.
It needed a wordmark.

We have a robot here at the office that consists of the back half of a bike and motor. Ghost Rider can be controlled remotely, and is used for endurance tests of the Pedal Brain.

It needed a wordmark.

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Friday July 23rd, 2010

Chester
This is the icon for an internal Pedal Brain testing app, that will be used on all of 3 iPads. The app tests 8 of our units at once, showing a dashboard of the current tests as they happen. The dashboard itself is still being worked out, but I’ll post more as it progresses.

Chester

This is the icon for an internal Pedal Brain testing app, that will be used on all of 3 iPads. The app tests 8 of our units at once, showing a dashboard of the current tests as they happen. The dashboard itself is still being worked out, but I’ll post more as it progresses.

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Friday July 2nd, 2010

Delta Spirit - Strange Vine

Delta Spirit - Strange Vine

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Sunday June 20th, 2010

Mega Macro
After seeing a tutorial about pulling off mega macro with a DSLR, I had to try it. All you do is turn your kit lens (or any lens for that matter) around and hold it against the body of your camera while taking a photo. Pretty awesome.

Mega Macro

After seeing a tutorial about pulling off mega macro with a DSLR, I had to try it. All you do is turn your kit lens (or any lens for that matter) around and hold it against the body of your camera while taking a photo. Pretty awesome.

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Tuesday May 18th, 2010

Whenever you stick a group of graduating graphic design seniors into a room, it does not take long for the conversation to steer toward the program’s shortcomings. “They didn’t teach me this!” “They wasted so much time on this!” Over the last few months of ceaseless discussion about these problems, I have actually come to terms with what the program has offered.

When talking to a few friends about how much I help people with web development, it always comes up that this must be a major specific thing. “That would never happen in __________, everyone is out for themselves” they say. Their logic is that I’m crazy for helping so many people that I am in direct competition with in the graphic design world.

To them, I say: Screw it.

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Helping Others

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Saturday March 27th, 2010