Freedom to be Curious

Frank Chimero indirectly asks why designers compound problems while claiming to solve them. He picks one technique, responsive design, and exposes its foolishness compared to photography that has escaped the rectangle by assembling multiple exposures.

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Using technology to solve the problems it causes is as futile as cleaning a grass stain by rubbing grass on it.

Up to a point, swapping autonomy for ease is a pretty good trade: who wants to run the math on their accounting books or call the restaurant to place a delivery order? But if taken too far, convenience becomes a Trojan Horse. We cede too much control and become dependent on something we can no longer steer. Platforms that promised to bring convenience to a process or intimacy to a relationship now wedge themselves into the transaction as new middlemen.

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I will answer his question by pointing the finger at work for hire, pleasing the client, setting and meeting expectations, delivering the message, building the business, controlling the user to the business's advantage.

The artist has the freedom to be curious. Successful artists are just starving artists that found something and have managed to sell it to a small but wealthy market.

Chris Alexander carried a related message when he challenged those who build with computers to consider that they have in their hands the world's Natural Genetic Infrastructure and with that comes responsibility.