Jon Udell just blogged a link to the NY Times Republican debate visualization. This is just plain cool: not only can you read the transcript while watching the recording, you can jump from section to section, and (in the “Transcript Analyzer” tab) see an overview of who spoke when, and for how long. Why do we, as software developers, create tools like this for other people, but then not apply them to our own projects?
As I see it, this problem is a symptom of a larger cultural issue: in general (Third Bit readers excluded!), most programmers seem to have little ability and/or interest in communication (beyond the minimal input/output required by their programs).
In fact, in my experience among the people I work with, the most technically savvy programmers (the smart guys you go to when you just can’t get a driver to work or can’t compile third-party code) are the people who are the least likely to comment their code or explain what they are doing without my having to interrogate them aggressively. By contrast, I am surrounded by many intelligent, articulate people who use computers heavily for their work, and who are delighted to explain what they do in clear and creative ways (using many forms of communication, including writing, graphics, animation, sounds, etc.). Unfortunately, in many cases these people don’t have the time/training/temperament to understand their computers very deeply (say, below the level of an application).
Has anyone else observed this phenomenon? The reason I enjoy reading The Third Bit is that it is a rare pleasure for me to encounter computer users who are intelligent, articulate and have a broad range of interests and skills!
This reminds me of UofT’s ePresence project – http://epresence.tv/.
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