The Genes of Passion include Simplicity

Christian Lindholm has an impressive resume. He has been called "the god-father of mobile phone users´", with his ideas on making Nokia mobiles (at least in the past) easier to use. Lindholm could be named as the "father" of Symbian s60-smartphone. (Before Symbian had the bad rep that it carries today). He has also been the vice-president of global mobile products for Yahoo! and has been labeled as one of the 180 movers according to VentureBeat. Clearly, this man is to be listened to, if anything.

At Elonmerkki, his main message was the need to reach passion as the ultimate user experience through service design. In this present occupation as the director of Fjordnet Limited, his goal is to transform digital through "elegant simplicity". In other words, he tackles problems of pure misguided design in digital services.
Lindholm´s main thesis is, that anything can, and should be made better. At present the problem in a lot of modern organizations is weak software. Companies do not invest in better programs simply because they, or their employees, do not care enough to change the situation. This ´status quo`, however, is changing. Increasingly people as employees or consumers are demanding better user experience. C**p, as he says, does  not sell. Services like Dropbox are a troublesome issue for monolith companies like Microsoft, simply because they work, and beautifully so. But if the issue is so simple, and easy to point out, why does a megacorporation not tackle it and offer better products? Lindholm does not answer this, and obviously it is a more deep-rooted issue related to bureaucracy, conservatism and resistance to change.

The highest form of design for Lindholm represents  the so-called "of course" -logic: an idea is so powerful and well-functioning that we cannot fathom how we lived before it. The newly designed and improved wrench is an example of this. A clever idea by a mechanic to twist the ends of a wrench proved genius. Elegant and simple. Ergonomics re-invented. The old design becomes wrong and the new is accepted as the prevalent norm. This reaction brings with it an emotional bond and eventual love affair with the product or service. (Albeit it is one-sided or imaginatively reciprocal at best)

According to Lindholm, love affair is what companies should be after. "The right-brain business" brings more value for the company- what he does not add, is the other term that could be used to describe this approach. The irrational business, the religion approach. When a brand becomes more than it is, a consumer product or service, when a bond is achieved that almost no rational argument can break. When we actually name our consumer goods (as in vacuum cleaners or cars) like children or pets and they become semi-living objects in our minds. They become the signifiers of a secular church that we attend to with a religious-like mindset when the real spirituality in our lives has diminished in importance. And this is the world that we are moving into.

The Genes of Passion include Simplicity

Easter Nostalgia: Microworld and William Shatner

Happy Easter, folks. As a sidenote, the whole tradition of celebrating Easter actually originates from Anglo-Saxon paganism. Let´s all have a drink for female Goddess Eostre, shall we?


There´s something incredibly sweet and nostalgic about reading old predictions on future.
(Future meaning now)
"2001: A Space Odyssey" never quite materialized, but here is a tiny bit of retro blast from the good old days of 1976 on the topic of  microprocessors. At the time they a relative novelty, but the information given here is still quite accurate. Moore´s Law still upholds. All this old-school technotalk would not be nowhere near as watchable, if it weren´t for our lovable Mr. William Shatner in action. The man is multitalented. Have you seen his version of the Elton John -classic "The Rocket Man?" Let´s add it here, as well. Epic entertainment, if anything. Guaranteed to give you a smile today.

Easter Nostalgia: Microworld and William Shatner

Church of Scientology arrives to Japan : But where is Travolta?

I suppose it is safe to say that after the memorable John Travolta -led rescue mission to Haiti, this was quite inevitable. And predictable. Our friendly scientologists are doing it again, saving sad souls from the perils of natural disaster. This time in Japan. I wonder if Travolta is flying the plane again?

 Being homeless after tsunami, maybe having lost some of your loved ones, what is the first thing popping up in your thoughts? Healing massages, that´s what. They sure can do miracles. Recently my friend lured me into getting one of those "natural alternative treatments", as in reflexology massage. Nope, did not feel a thing. No energies going through my "zones" no matter what. Maybe I´m just  not open enough for these things. What ever the case, perhaps the answer lies in "spiritual first aid" delivered by a "volunteer minister". The therapy relies on "getting in touch with the immortal spirits". Sounds funky and inspiring for next weekend. Especially as the church promises to get "even a drunk man sober in minutes". Wonderful. I should give it a try, or what? 

In all fairness, the yellow-coated heroes did provide food and water for the victims as well. Now if only they could control the radioactivity as well. Maybe auditing can help?

Church of Scientology arrives to Japan : But where is Travolta?

Scientology and The Road to Freedom

Religion is a sensitive topic. The ones with strong beliefs on its power are always eager to defend its importance for our existence. How can one be human without spiritual guidance, a system that molds our choices and provides safety from lingering fears on pure arbitrariness in the universe? For some of us, atheism is simply absurd. Spiritual vacuum is feared, condemned and it can even be considered a morally questionable representation of the character at large.

 I do recognize the feeling of shelter religion brings, it is easier to live with someone/something giving straight  answers to everything (no matter how correct they are). There is no uncertainty or questioning of choices: things are, as given. It is a matter of placing your ultimate trust in the hands of someone, and something. This trust can be easily exploited, however.

When there is demand, there is supply. A friend of mine had an intriguing encounter with this specific church in the past. Well-dressed, well-spoken woman on the streets of Brighton offers a free personality test. After the test (which in its complexity was nothing but random general questions of nothing important) the results were given. No surprises there, the need for help was regarded as immediate. My friend was apparently "in dire emotional stress and going nowhere" without intervention. Relief would come in the form of dianetics. And countless courses, I assume.  Without going into specifics of Scientology, as I suspect most of us have heard the stories on thetans, aliens, suppressive persons, auditing and the perils of modern psychiatry, I present some hip music by the church of Scientology.

In 1986, Scientology put out an album of songs created by no other that the great L. Ron Hubbard himself.
The lyrics are exactly what one would imagine, preaching the ARC triangle, devils of psychiatry etc. This is "the Road to Freedom" , indeed.

Scientology and The Road to Freedom