The greatest challenge we have today both in the physical and digital world is waste. It’s not an energy production problem we have. It’s a waste production problem. The defining characteristic of “rich” world culture is profligate waste. We create, for example, so much plastic waste that geologists are seeing a sedimentary layer of plastic… Read More »
“Domination” is Mark Zuckerberg’s favorite word. He illustrates better than most the domineering Tech Bros win-at-all-costs, use-all-means-to-get-to-your-ends approach. From the first time I heard him gush about “community” the hairs on my neck stood up. There was something deeply fake and disturbing going on. This guy is a dictator. From day one, he set up… Read More »
If 50 million websites are actively using Google Analytics, then according to my calculations this could be resulting in 100 million kg of CO2 pollution a year. You’d need to plant 10 million trees to deal with that sort of pollution. Most of these 50 million websites will find out very little by using Google… Read More »
The most substantial pollution from Google Analytics comes from the processing and analysis of the data. Let’s assume that the analytics data from each of the 50 million websites using Google Analytics requires 30 seconds per day of processing from Google servers. These servers tend to be very energy intensive, using from 500 to 1200… Read More »
Every time you access a webpage that is using Google Analytics, about 22 KB of data is sent to Google. If we estimate that there are 500 million pages being accessed every day then that’s about 4 million GB of data per year. We’d need to plant 1,656 trees to deal with the pollution. However,… Read More »
The most dangerous cost is the cost closest to zero. The most dangerous concept is cheap. The cost close to zero easily becomes invisible. We don’t see it so we don’t think it exists, and that makes us consume with abandon, that makes us waste at will. That which is cheap—or, worse still, free—is nearly… Read More »
Words: Whether it is text or voice, words are how a digital designer primarily thinks. The best designers spend enough time to choose the right word because the right words drive the right actions. Code: Words without code are print. Without good code there can be no Web and the best code is lean. Visual:… Read More »
Many organizations have not really adapted to the Web but rather have made the Web adapt to them and their print processes, their print thinking and their print culture. The characteristics of a print culture are: You are creating a fixed, contained, physical thing. It is much more efficient to publish one large thing than… Read More »
COVID-19 has exposed many organizations as being unable to react quickly enough. When a pandemic has the potential to grow exponentially, decisions that can mitigate against its growth need to be made very quickly. Information that loss of smell was a key symptom for COVID-19 began to emerge in March 2020, yet many governmental and… Read More »
A unique strength of the Web over all other communications channels is its ability to efficiently collect, analyze, organize and publish user-generated content. The combination of digital technology and the wisdom of the crowds is a powerful, revolutionary force. A perfect example of this is a symptom-tracking app launched by researchers at King’s College London… Read More »