Iceman and I are here in NYC for the World Innovation Forum… more on that in another post. We used the opportunity to head up to the new Apple Store.

While it looks beautiful–I wonder how they could have built in more ways to make it the center of the Apple Universe. Why not have Photo Booth integrated in to large screen displays feeding something like the fountatins at Millenium Park. They could include a web component as well–with those same photos appearing on apple.com.

Why not have products only available or customized in certain ways at the store? Why not unveil new products, outside of the convention cycle, at the store first–let bloggers spread the word pre-launch nationwide.

Other than the unique architecture and location, however, there isn’t anything innovative about the store, how customers interact with the products, or the overall experience.

A Notice From Managment:

If you’ve been hitting the site at all this weekend, you’ll notice it’s a mess. Sorry about that. I’m updating it live–so it will be going through hiccups. CSS may be cached as well, so you may want to hard refresh. There are a lot of items I haven’t fixed or have working yet–will be coming along in the next few days.

The spark for all the change came from the need to have a way to use Wordpress to keep track of books I’m reading and review them. The social book collecting sites leave a lot to be desired. I’ve got a whole rundown of that in a post coming soon.

Until then, sorry about the maintenance issues.

Prior to reading any more, go here, and click on the Fresh Experiences link and watch the entire video.

If Nintendo doesn’t find massive success with the Wii console then we are a sad lot. Revolutionizing the console through the interface–it’s brilliant–and it’s both behind and ahead of its time.

I remember when the first VR games came out–big stand up machines in big city arcades and theme parks… I thought that was going to be the future… but they were too clunky, too expensive, and all together didn’t have very compelling applications. Now there is the Wii and a new form of virtual reality has arrived–and it isn’t virtual.

Personal technology and applications are moving from the bi-polar online-offline schism–to a world of analog–a world of gradients rather solid fields… a world of dials rather than switches… an organic rather than simulated world. Technology isn’t so scary anymore… and it’s becoming more integrated into our daily lives. When I was in junior high, very few people in my age group could type faster than 15-20 wpm… I wonder what the 14 year-old average wpm is now?

The Wii is emblematic of what is happening with our culture–and it’s the healthy part of integrating technology. It’s a matter of more healthily bridging human behavior and technology. Yes–even in gaming. I think, after watching the video, if the Wii really delivers that experience, the concept of gaming will radically shift. Learning button presses and thumb jockeying won’t suffice.

I think the most interesting aspect of Wii is the possibility. Imagine the social games that can be enabled through the interface–not just combative, but cooperative. Gaming becomes a social rather than anti-social pastime.

Enter the Wii zardy. You can have your Xbox 360 and Playstation 3… I’m waiting for the true breakthrough gaming.

I’ve been lost… in the latest Murakami. I’ve been lost as a DEWNster. As well, I’ve found my time caught in Gary Benchley, Making Meaning, and The Shape of Time.

I’ve been in Lost Cities, Lost Towns, and Lost–the ARG.

Never fear. Fulminator will return. I’ve got the Intonation Festival June 24th and 25th and the Pitchfork Music Festival July 29th and 30th to look forward to. Both within a 5 minute walk from my home.