Aaron Pfeifer » Software http://www.aaronpfeifer.com A grab bag of thoughts from all around. Thu, 14 Oct 2010 01:47:26 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 1,100 Dunkin’ Donuts within a 50-mile radius of Boston http://www.aaronpfeifer.com/2008/01/28/1100-dunkin-donuts-within-a-50-mile-radius-of-boston/ http://www.aaronpfeifer.com/2008/01/28/1100-dunkin-donuts-within-a-50-mile-radius-of-boston/#comments Mon, 28 Jan 2008 14:00:55 +0000 Aaron http://www.aaronpfeifer.com/2008/01/28/1100-dunkin-donuts-within-a-50-mile-radius-of-boston/

Did you know there are over 1,100 Dunkin’ Donuts within a 50-mile radius of the city of Boston?

The first question most people ask is: Why? Why why why why why? It doesn’t make sense. However, what you probably never knew is that Dunkin’ Donuts originated in Boston. That’s the reason it’s so popular and so well-received.

It’s a known fact that communities will tend to stand by a business that started in their hometown than businesses from outside the area even if the products are better. In the last few years, Krispy Kreme tried building a few stores in the Boston area. It didn’t go too well. Even though Krispy Kreme’s donuts may have been better, Bostoners stuck with their heritage.

Something to keep in mind if you ever try to start a business :)

]]> http://www.aaronpfeifer.com/2008/01/28/1100-dunkin-donuts-within-a-50-mile-radius-of-boston/feed/ 0 “Living” user interfaces http://www.aaronpfeifer.com/2007/11/21/living-user-interfaces/ http://www.aaronpfeifer.com/2007/11/21/living-user-interfaces/#comments Wed, 21 Nov 2007 14:00:05 +0000 Aaron http://www.aaronpfeifer.com/2007/11/21/living-user-interfaces/

Software user interfaces can change. So why don’t they?

One place I’d like to see groundbreaking work done is in what I call “living” user interfaces. The advantage that software has over your microwave is that it can learn and adapt to the way you use it. Your microwave can’t resize buttons based on your usage patterns, but software can. So why doesn’t it?

I think the reason is twofold. First, creating a generic process that changes a user interface without contextual information is hard. Second, is it worth it? Does the improvement in usability actually happen and is it worth the effort?

My guess is that it will be. The potential is there to improve the user experience. I think it’s not a question of “Will this happen?” more than “When will it happen?”

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Wikipedia has worked so well for providing a pretty decent source of quality information as an alternative to the old-school encyclopedia. I’ve always wondered what would happen if someone applied the Wiki philosophy to the development of a real open source library. Anyone can make changes to the code without even being registered. What kind of results would this have?

  • Faster development?
  • More bugs?
  • More features?
  • Hackers injecting security vulnerabilities?

It would be interesting to find out. Anyone want to volunteer to run an experiment? ;)

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