I am speaking of the landline office phones that “bug the hell” out of people everyday. Modern office phones (phone systems) are designed to perform a variety of tasks ranging from transfering calls to collegues, putting a caller on hold, call-back, etc.. and these functions can be activated by dialing the right sequence of numbers or symbols (#0123456789*) - using the dial pad that we all know so well and the function it normally has.
The problem is that the buttons used to call the advanced functions are not labeled for that purpose and there are no indications on the device that instruct us how to.

-Subsequently, the user either
(a) gives up his/her quest for accessing the functions and sticks to the basic use
(b)Takes the tedious time to memorize some or all the functions from the manual. –> becomes the resident expert of the office
(c) Relies on tacid knowledge obtained by other partial or full expert users

From my experience at the Centre for Regional and Economic Development, the only “advanced function” i can recall, is the function that transfers an incoming call from any idle phone to my own - just press 66 on the key pad - “just do that stupid”.
-right!!

Extremely poor mapping! ==> terrible design - poor human computer interaction.

That was my bug-hunt contribution, please excuse spelling mistakes.. i only have one functioning hand at the moment
Best regards
Allan Larsen

here are some links to what i think would make a great
camera for field studies. pocket sized and industructable.
and NO TAPES! (and yes, i read the discusson on jared’s blog)

— jo

product page:
http://www.theflip.com/products_flip_mino.shtml#scene=sceneMinoHD

review:
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081113-720p-in-your-pocket-hands-on-with-the-flip-minohd.html

memory sticks will become cheaper and cheaper over time - that shouldn’t be a problem.

I could imagine that avchd format would be very handy for most of the student work.

Besides that - lets buy one DSLR camera - and the fun Casio camera.

And lets set a deadline - what about mid March and then give a list to Rune for what to buy.

regards,

Mark

(My Blooog is suddenly twice as popular as it used to be :).

I agree about the SHARP viewcams being really nice for handling. Do you know if they’re still making them in that form factor?

1. I want to support the statement that miniDVs probably are the best storage medium.

- It has something to do with a feeling of certainty - ‘this is the tape, this is my interview…it’s there, visible and physical.’
- This also enables others to actually see that there is documentation of a certain case, a kind of reminder for oneself and others. I was talking with Jacob about this the other day - sometimes (especially with regards to student work) we realize that it could be helpful to get back to some incident of fieldwork, a certain presentation, workshop or similar quite a while after it took place. Then having the tapes ‘on the shelf’ can be crucial.
- Furthermore being able to go back to the raw material without having to clog up the hard disc of your computer is very important.

2. We should also consider the handling of the screen and lens-part! This is what I really, really really (I guess you get the point) cherish about the SHARP digital viewcams we have. The lens-part is more vertical, so you can hold it like a stick (shake hands position), while you could adjust the angle of the screen to properly see from above.
- This means that you do not need more than a glance at the screen to ensure catching the target object.
- You can easily handle the cam below your head and keep eye contact with people, engage in some way, while filming.
- Seems easy to keep steady in movement.

picture:
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/5108YBRZF9L._AA280_.jpg

( I can’t do any formatting of my comment. Sorry for the ‘bad read’ :()