In his latest weblog, Simon Morris is having none of it. In his blog description, he writes "Suddenly every handheld device wants to be prodded, stroked, wiggled, jiggled or waved. But to what end? Is all this 'innovation' really helpful, or just gimmickry to help sell lackluster products?". Continuing in Occam's Razor and UI Innovation, he adds:

When adding innovation one question should be repeatedly asked: why am I doing this?

Sure, I can hook a Wii Remote into my desktop app, but what added value does it give me? Why do I want a rumble pack in my mouse? Is it really easier to navigate the Windows Start menu via voice commands? (And when are those damn Aztecs going to go home?)

Yes, it may seem obvious, but it needs stating and re-stating, over and over and over! Because even skeptics like myself can get taken in by the thrill of a new gimmick. It's so tempting to see something like the Wii Remote and wish to find ways to include it in one's own software. But the urge should be resisted, because it is only by identifying and focusing on real problems (rather than gimmicks) that any real progress will be made.

Does Simon have a point? Are the Wii and the iPhone cases of change for change's sake, or do their novel interfaces offer real benefit?

Also in today's Weblogs, Mark Lam explains CVM JIT Constant Pool Dumps. "In a comment in a previous article, Jamsheed asked why CVM's JIT dumps compiled code constants in a seemingly reverse order. Well, here's a discussion about why."

Finally Felipe Gaucho joins the Caravan to Jazoon'08 CEJUG is organizing a tech trip to Jazoon'08, facilitating the information on how Brazilians can attend the Swiss conference. The good feedback suggests that the idea can be followed by other JUGs. —