So I keep meaning to mention The History of the Button, a blog by a coworker of mine–Bill DeRouchey: Information Architect–about just that.

One of the industrial design blogs the I’m slowly becoming aware of just gave Bill’s blog a nice mention and prompted my memory to make note of it here.

From “About the History of the Button”:

The idea: The button is interesting. It has a history, an evolution. It began as a simple on/off device and has become a central part of our human culture. We reach out to manipulate objects. We push buttons and magic things happen.

At first, the light goes on. The light goes off. But now, we find our friends and family. We order and ship presents. We launch bombs. The button is the center of our power.

This blog/resource/concept is to explore and record the history of the button. That’s all.

I have a fondness for narrow focused blogs as it is, especially cultural/design ones, so my liking Bill’s blog was almost a gimme. But how can you possibly resist a site that lets you know the first portable flashlight was developed in 1898 as well as informing you of songs about the button from 1891?

If Patrick hadn’t fervently wanted some peach-blueberry pie after the Mountain Goats concert (with the unexpectedly perky Barbara Morgenstern as opening act), we might’ve missed seeing the World Naked Bike Ride going zooming by our window corner booth and views like this.

This Is Just To Say

I have eaten
the kneaded erasers
that were on
the art table

and which
you were probably
saving
for erasing.

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so chewy.

– Thurber (with apologies to William Carlos Williams)

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Your name:	jemale
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Created by Grahame

Speaking of which…

Via the MIT Technology Review: Microsoft has patented the use of human skin to transmit electrical signals and power in United States Patent 6,754,472 :Method and apparatus for transmitting power and data using the human body.

Basically this is to allow your PDA in one hand dial your cell phone in the other. How this is supposed to reduce the “redundancy of carrying multiple mobile devices,” I don’t know, or why it would even be necessary as cellphones and PDA are already on their way to melding into one devise, complete with digital camera and internet access. As for the other obvious observation on this patent, I think Mara E Vatz summed it up nicely:

This concept reminds me of a process most people used to useÑwhich involved storing a phone number in our mind, transmitting it via the nervous system to our hand (either one!), and dialing the phone ourselves.