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The IFTF Blog
Post-Bits
One of the great unwritten history of technology stories is the biography of the Post-It. (By "biography" I mean its invention; its subsequent use, appropriation, reinvention, etc. by millions of users; and its cultural life-- i.e. use as a visual metaphor in advertising, inspiration in interface design, and probably medium in performance art, who knows.) It's one of those technologies that is incredibly simple, yet shows up everywhere; it's very modest, yet you have the sneaking suspicion that, in ways you can't quite describe, it changes the way you work and think.
No wonder it's been an inspiration for ubiquitous computing. Reverse engineer the magic of the Post-It, and you're a genius. I was reminded of this when I recently ran across this abstract by Maribeth Back and her colleagues at FXPAL on Post-Bits:
Post-Bit: Multimedia E-paper Stickies
A Post-Bit is a prototype of a small ePaper device for handling multimedia content, combining interaction control and display into one package. Post-Bits are modeled after paper Post-Its™; the functions of each Post-Bit combine the affordances of physical tiny sticky memos and digital handling of information. Post-Bits enable us to arrange multimedia contents in our embodied physical spaces. Tangible properties of paper such as flipping, flexing, scattering and rubbing are mapped to controlling aspects of the content. In this paper, we introduce the integrated design and functionality of the Post-Bit system, including four main components: the ePaper sticky memo/player, with integrated sensors and connectors; a small container/binder that a few Post-Bits can fit into, for ordering and multiple connections; the data and power port that allows communication with the host com-puter; and finally the software and GUI interface that reside on the host PC and manage multimedia transfer.
What especially struck me was the desire to "combine the affordances of physical tiny sticky memos and digital handling of information." It's another example of the "yes-and" design model that characterizes post-cyberspace devices.