While rummaging through old digital photos, I came across one which character and composition evoke a moment from the 1960s or 1970s. The metadata makes more modern origin known: June 23, 2010, 1:23 p.m. PDT. GPS-logged location: Pine Knot Avenue, Big Bear Lake, Calif.
My wife is the photographer, accompanied by her dad during a day trip. She used Google Nexus One to capture the Featured Image. Strangely, the metadata doesn’t record the camera settings. The photo is presented untouched; no cropping or enhancements.
Contrary to what some Apple aficionados or tech historians might assert, most modern smartphones draw their design heritage from Nexus One rather than iPhone. Context and touchless interaction where cornerstone’s of the Android’s design ethic, which has been adopted industrywide.
Nexus One listened and responded to you. Where Apple focused on tactile response of the screen, Google favored voice and delivering information to you that was contextually meaningful.
The maturation of this design ethic is the artificial intelligence capability currently being baked into the mobile device experience by Google and by its imitating competitors.
Photo Credit: Anne Wilcox