Will Wright: computers enhance our people skills
http://theinternetispeople.com/2006/08/29/will-wright-computers-enhance-our-people-skills/
Bokardo.com highlights a Wired editorial by Will Wright, creator of SimCity, SimEarth, The Sims et al. I was particularly drawn by this quote:
But the Internet has morphed what we used to think of as a fancy calculator into a fancy telephone with email, chat groups, IM, and blogs. It turns out that we don’t use computers to enhance our math skills - we use them to expand our people skills.
Will’s experience is in computer games, and he goes on to say how games are becoming more social. One glance at World of Warcraft or The Sims Online - not to mention his upcoming title Spore or future Xbox Live developments - will back this up. However, this represents a wider trend in software, towards more social designs.
Software doesn’t have a life in itself; it doesn’t do anything, just as a hammer is dormant until someone picks it up and performs an action with it. Remembering that a software tool is simply a tool that allows a person to perform a task, usually involving other people at some stage, allows for more efficient design. Everything must be optimised to enhance the user’s ability to create, share, discover and collaborate.
