Phil Wolff wrote a while back about how weblogs are going to evolve into a converged client, with attributes of weblogs, email, IM, PIM, presentation, word processor, newsreader, video editor, workflow manager, and a couple of other things in the pot for good measure.
I agree in part, and disagree vehemently in part. The many modes of human communication are all used together to support the relationships we have and the work we’re doing. There should be interfaces and touchpoints among the media; a common inbox for daily activities, common memory spaces for the things we want to remember in the context we want to remember them.
But an interface is a tool designed for a purpose. There is no way I want the controls required to edit video before me unless I want to be editing video right now. I don’t want lots of screen real estate taken up by publishing widgets when I just want to write and post three sentences. This is why Microsoft Office feels like it’s gotten progressively worse; there are too many potatoes in the sack.
Phil writes: “Are you presenting on a computer projector, a video stream, or paper? The software should understand how to adjust.”
Respectfully, Phil, I don’t want software to guess whether I’m trying to edit a video — this is an even more nightmarish version of Microsoft clippy, which obsequiously tries to write your business letters for you.
There’s a reason people like publish with using Blogger and MovableType.
Simple is good.
The hard part is not going to be tying all of these things together.
The hard part is going to be maintaining simple entry points to the underlying complexity.