17 comments

  • C___ F_____C___ F_____, 9 years ago

    I suppose this kinda relevant – what does Dustin Curtis actually do? I've read his posts for a while but I'm yet to see an example of real-life work (excluding Svbtle).

    4 points
    • Moiz K. MalikMoiz K. Malik, 9 years ago (edited 9 years ago )

      He's an investor at Andreessen Horowitz.

      Edit: I had him confused with someone else. My brain merged him with someone else.

      0 points
    • Eric REric R, 9 years ago

      Seems to be primarily an apple fanboy. If you read his predictions.txt article its all about how Siri and Apple will dominate the market place in every aspect. He even goes as far as to think Apple invented screens that are higher than 1080p.

      2 points
    • Art VandelayArt Vandelay, 9 years ago

      I just assumed he is an extremely overweight introvert that finds happiness in devices instead of life... based on this article

      2 points
      • Tim GauthierTim Gauthier, 9 years ago

        shame, since he's actually very private. He's a very open person who seems to do lots of travel and work. He just keeps stuff separate.

        0 points
    • Beth DeanBeth Dean, 9 years ago

      It is hard for me to trust someone's voice on design thinking when I have yet to see any of their design.

      0 points
      • Corin EdwardsCorin Edwards, 9 years ago

        If you evaluate design on sight alone then you should probably read more regardless of who is writing.

        0 points
        • C___ F_____C___ F_____, 9 years ago (edited 9 years ago )

          I think that you've missed Beth's point here, Dustin Curtis talks about design a lot, whilst the only design work of his that I've seen is an unsolicited redesign of American Airlines (which got somebody fired) and Svbtle. Although there are many very intelligent people who speak about design, they are also practicing designers, i.e. you can see their work.

          I struggle to trust somebody who I know very little about. Having such an air of mystery simply leads me to think that the guy is hustling and has become an authority on design by saying that he is so himself, albeit indirectly.

          Edit: Cameron's answer cleared everything up for me.

          6 points
        • Beth DeanBeth Dean, 9 years ago

          I tend to put my faith in people I know are good designers and not talking heads.

          0 points
    • Cameron GilesCameron Giles, 9 years ago

      IIRC he left college or something (so I guess you can call that a 'dropout') to pursue design.

      Had some interesting things. Had a bunch of good articles hosted at his namesake domain (some people called the format a 'blogazine'). He also created a web app that allowed you to create a timeline of your life that he sold. That was probably around 3 or 4 years ago.

      Prior to Svbtle, I believe he was a YC alum already -- but I'm not sure what company. And if so, I think it makes a lot of sense. A designer with a well crafted persona, with some great work (up at the time) and clearly some great connections in the tech world (see: some of his articles, the Justin Bieber tweet, etc). A quick Google tells me Shyp is one of his customers.

      It's likely he's a designer with a fair bit of work under his belt who has gotten a lot of work based on word of mouth and friendships in the valley.

      1 point
      • C___ F_____C___ F_____, 9 years ago

        Thanks for the insight dude! It goes to show how much being able to write well affects what you work on.

        0 points
  • Alex CornellAlex Cornell, 9 years ago

    As indicated by some of the comments here, he is someone who masterfully wields a tidbit of mystery to his advantage. Periodically drives people crazy by not following the rest of us down the internet's 'look-at-me' rathole.

    His writing is consistently insightful, and if you dig, you can find his design work (recall the AA website redesign), which I always found to be really sharp & polished

    2 points
    • Erik ShawErik Shaw, 9 years ago

      Yep! He said himself: Mystery is an extremely powerful method of control. Curiosity will bring even the strongest man to his knees.

      3 points
  • Jonathan LevyJonathan Levy, 9 years ago

    Voice recognition will be doomed before even reaching the so called level of human usable as mentioned in the beginning. Shouting stuff at your phone/computer is not even worth calling it an interaction. Mentally controlled interactions are coming fast, so when we'll be able to fill in a form by just thinking of the right infos, we'll laugh really hard at this.

    0 points
  • Corin EdwardsCorin Edwards, 9 years ago

    This solution is predicated on a battery life fantasy

    the computer should just always be listening for potential commands within the context of whatever the user is doing.

    Not to mention demanding that voice recognition excel in an area that he spends half an article stating it's not any good at.

    0 points