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	comments on page 9	I think all design 'empathetic' or not leaves things open. Like the way in which mobile phones have come to be used against their design. I remember my daughter being given a 'shape-sorter' when she was 1 year old: it had a clock, a series of slots for shapes, a lid that opened to retrieve the shapes, and a phone hand set and number pad. I found it the most depressing toy as I felt she (and millions of other people like her) was being inducted into factory and secretarial work. But she never used it as it was designed. She used to open the door and stuff clothes into it and make washing machine noises, she would put pots on top of it and 'make a meal', she would sit the door open and turn it into a car seat for other toys. Finally she ripped the phone set off the thing and made a mobile phone. It's the practices that people bring to designed objects that I think are interesting here and in that sense I think perhaps interfaces and life are essentially as unknowable in their outcomes: kind of everything can crash. by carey jewitt on 5/14/2003 at 10:45:28 Reading your essay and the key word you are using "interface" make me think about the difference between "interaction" and "interactivity". "Interaction" refers to "interface" between human and the "interactivity" refers the "interface" between machine/screen and human, or between "machines". It seems to me that "events" becomes the important element for both kinds of "interface". Chinese term "jie mian" is very interesting one to make important points/arguments with, in relation to "interface". I am not sure if "jie mian" is the best term for "interface". If it is, one has to recognize that Chinese concepts of "space", "border" and/or "surface", are not limited to square and flat surface, as we often say in Chinese: "yan guan liu lu, er ting ba fang" we could argue that Chinese "jie mian" is much more multi-dimensional. your insight on "interface" through your personal points of view inspires me to think about doing some research on similar subjects, probably in the future. by xiaowen chen on 4/28/2003 at 13:35:01 the user becomes the designer, while the designer becomes the curator. I don't know about this... It could be really irritating, depending on what you're given to work with. If someone gives me poor ingredients, I can't cook the dish I want. I actually HATE a lot of the so-called "interactive" stuff on the market for children because they are in such atrocious taste, and the options are so banal. I think sometimes people want to be presented with a stunning design and THEN to interact with THAT! A beautifully crafted design STILL demands interaction, right? The best work is always challenging. by Ellen Handler Spitz on 4/20/2003 at 14:15:27			+
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