In An Age Of Gadgets, Life Gets Complicated (broadcast Friday, July 13th, 2007)

Do you have a super-duper cell phone with a thousand functions that you don't know how to use? Is your home filled with digital displays blinking 12:00? In this hour, Ira talks with John Maeda, a designer and researcher at the MIT Media lab who believes in the value of simplicity. How can complicated technology be designed with humans in mind? We want to hear your ideas about simplicity, too - call in with examples of products, devices, and systems that you think are elegantly simple, or needlessly complex. Teachers, find more information about using Science Friday as a classroom resource in the Kids' Connection.

Guests

John Maeda
Author, "The Laws of Simplicity" (MIT Press, 2006)
Associate Director of Research, The Media Lab
E. Rudge and Nancy Allen Professor of Media Arts & Sciences
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, Massachusetts