Information Anxiety (2)

Wurman, Richard Saul. InformationAnxiety2 (Indianapoils: Que, 2000). Got it, read up to p. 76 so far -- not nearly as exciting as the first edition was back in 1989, when all these ideas were new (at least to me). The one good thing so far is the idea of function compared with performance. Yeah, yeah, this has been said before, but somehow Wurman's distinction here struck me in a special way relative to online information and software usability:

"A building that performs is one where all the spaces can be used efficiently, with neither too much space nor too little allotted for different activities; where the building systems are designed to accommodate the needs of the occupants; where the design is such that users feel comfortable in the interior environment" (p. 54). Compare that with a building that simply functions, providing a space to contain activities, goods and people.

Another valuable thing from the book: A Berkeley study called How Much Information? It's kind of weird -- the researchers are adding up the number of terabytes humans produce each year, basically. Yet the work yields data
such as this:

"The production of unique content in books, photos, and CDs isbarely growing. DVD content is growing rapidly ... By contrast,shipments of digital magnetic storage are essentially doubling everyyear" (from the linked page).