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October 12, 2006
Blossom: ambient productivity software
One of the entries for the Macintosh “My Dream App” contest is Blossom, an application that runs not in the background, but off to the side. Its designer calls it a “virtual plant” whose health is dependant on “user productivity.” Users get to define what their own “productivity” means, but it seems to boil down to time spent in Excel or Word versus time spent in Firefox or reading e-mail.
Hey, I had almost exactly the same idea for a desktop widget back when Apple’s Dashboard came out. :-) Of course, Blossom is much more configurable. It’s a fine example of calm technology, and is a lot like the stuff Jack and Matt have built
But isn’t there something depressing about statements like this one from the developer?
…there is a productivity problem with people who are online during work—checking the news, slashdot, MDA, or playing a game, and later feeling upset that work is not done. Blossom execution and marketing must address that need in a simple and fun way.
Does it always have to be about productivity? You’re wasting time! Someone’s probably using their time more effectively! I mean, you’ve got to be effective! Is what you’re doing right now really worth it…and are you willing to pay the price for all that time wasted? Does it really make me want to do better work to know that there’s yet another channel for monitoring my time? Why does beauty—and Blossom really is quite beautiful—have to be put in the service of getting me to spend more hours tapping away at my keyboard? Why not help me grow relationships with friends who’ve laid fallow in iChat, or whose emails have gone unreplied-to, or whose numbers haven’t been dialed recently, or whose recent photos haven’t been viewed lately? This software Chia-pet-Tamagotchi taskmaster sounds perfectly grim to me.
Posted by Andrew at October 12, 2006 01:24 PM
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