Light Switches and the Cloud

My favorite piece of tech is a light switch.

Odd, probably to some, but let me explain.

A light switch (read this part literally) is a device whose user-interface is about as simple as it comes - it's either off or on. A 1 or a 0 to you binary types. There's no maybe, there's no other options. But the trick isn't the switch, it's what it does..it brings light to a room. A simple enough trick that no one is ever confused by it, reads a manual or has to go take a course to figure one out. It's elegant in a U/I sense.

Behind the scenes, it's a complex little box with varying wires, poles and an ability to complete or continue circuits. But that's what makes it great - none of that is presented to the user. All the 'detail' is hidden and just handled. You want local light ? Just touch here.

Most other technology we interact with is not as elegant. We're presented options and a requirement to configure thing to achieve a desired response. A close parallel to light is sound..a radio. At it's absolute simplest as well, touch the on button and music or other noises fill your space. But that's if the antenna is picking up signals, which you sometimes have to manually adjust or fine-tune. And we're all fussy about volume, so that adjustment needs to be made too. If you start to look at a more advanced home stereo system, I'll admit confusion on the latest Hi-def theater receivers and how to operate them optimally for sound, let alone hook them up correctly.

Which brings me to the cloud. We all know the cloud right ? It's where all of us will have all of life's information available to us, on demand. It replaces local storage of data, which as a design feature offers local accessibility (only). The cloud is the next wave in IT enablement - an area not reknown if we're honest with ourselves about elegant design (and I'm not talking Bang & Olufsen type design).

At this somewhat early execution phase, we are at a critical juncture I might suggest. Someone can go to one end of the design spectrum and realize the Cloud should just "be" available to us everywhere with whatever interface device we have; or they can make it hugely tailored, and customizable. Make it so it's like having to configure a server in the real world.

Which way is best ? I'm not going to venture an opinion too obviously here, except to offer that this is a critical point - and one we'll all live with for a long time, so choices here ought to be carefully considered. There are design options coming forward, and the smart money isn't on those early adopters of technology happy to write C++ code to enable a degree of usability in their newest stuff. The market says light switch.