Friday 11 March 2011

The Bleeding Heart Cafe.


Whilst looking for a place to have lunch in Brisbane I came across an example of a good social learning space, The Bleeding Heart cafe on Ann Street.
Not only do they have free WiFi, which was handy, the spot I choose to sit reminded me of Peter's pavilion.
On a terrace looking into a tree canopy with a high bench, wide surface and looking onto a busy thoroughfare, in this case vehicles as opposed to pedestrians.
Coincidentally it was once the Brisbane City Council School of Arts.
We can learn a lot by looking at the spaces outside of universities to help get ideas for innovative space design.
The staff were also very friendly and helpful.


2 comments:

  1. I did a little experiment yesterday that leads me to believe we are going to move right through the laptop vs. desktop question and onto the next iteration of that dilemma very quickly. I downloaded a remote desktop app onto my iPhone and literally within minutes, I had full access to my home (Mac Book) and work computer PC (Dell PC) on my iPhone with no trouble at all. The speed was good, and the mechanics of using the app on the small iPhone screen were reasonable. I imagine if I had a tablet and perhaps a bluetooth keyboard, it would have been a very good experience.

    My point is that if we can get the vast majority of what we need to conduct day-to-day transactions from the “cloud” via our handheld devices (either phone or tablet) there will really be very little need to carry a full laptop computer around, it becomes this clunky mid-range device that really offers very little functional utility, is heavy, and constantly requires recharging.

    The media center we built at UVA referenced in Nigel’s blog has 14 large screen (27” ) iMacs in it and our students flock to these machines. I think the student demand in the future will be for these large screen format, high powered machines when they need them for the handful of tasks that they can’t accomplish with their pocket/tablet devices, easy access to the “cloud” where all of their personal data and libraries (music, books, assignments, etc.) will be stored, and the ability to leverage the power of their personal devices through interconnecting technologies that automatically recognize their devices when they enter the space (no effort required on their part, the room just knows you’re there). My prediction, we’re going to move right through laptop computing into “cloud” based pocket computing very quickly.

    I need to go buy an iPad to continue my research : )

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  2. I was interested in Bills' comments but I am not sure I totally agree. I am seeing students using their laptop in conjunction with the PCs we supply in labs, I mention this in an earlier post.I would like to know if others are seeing this dual processing power trend.
    Now it could be that the hand held device will be one of the processors and the provided PC \ Mac the other and Bill's prophecy will come to pass.

    What is true about all of this is that we are living in a time of massive change in the way we distribute and receive information. People are using technology in ways we had not considered and this is impacting upon space design, or should be. DESIGNERS TAKE NOTE.

    Could I ask all who read this to spare a moments thought for all the people affected by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan and the Pacific basin. It brings perspective to things that we sometimes get over concerned with.

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