Google in late 2009 is now covering or aiming to cover web apps, the browser that runs the web apps, the OS that runs the browser, and, according to rumors, even the computer that runs the OS.

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You’re encouraging the random and random is how you’re going to win. Random is how you’re going to discover a path through a problem that no one else has found and that starts with breathing deeply.

Even though the subject matter and approach differs, this pairs nicely with an article on A List Apart last week: Burnout, by Scott Boms.

Your life should be just that—a life

Good words, all around. link

As a Typekit user, you’ll have access to our library of high-quality fonts. Just add a line of JavaScript to your markup, tell us what fonts you want to use, and then craft your pages the way you always have. Except now you’ll be able to use real fonts. This really is going to change web design.

Also worth checking out, Jeff posted a preview of the Typekit home page yesterday. Looking forward to how this will change typography and design for the web. link

I’m now advocating to my clients (and to you), that where feasible, not to waste hours in time and a client’s money on lengthy workarounds in an unnecessary attempt at cross-browser perfection. Instead, you and I should provide simple but effectively designed HTML elements. This means just great typography for headings, paragraphs, quotations, lists, tables and forms and no styling of layout.

This will work well for content-focused web sites. And then maybe it’s officially time to completely drop support of IE6 for web apps. link

Wired is great print, but if the magazine can’t make money and is shuttered, taking the website down with it, I’m going to be livid. Not that making money online is easy—it’s not, especially without sacrificing your ethics and your voice—but if any mainstream outlet should be able to make the transition, it should be Wired.

I fear that may be impossible, not just for Wired but for all these old brands, because they can’t accept that the work at which they have excelled for years will be just as important when it’s online—and online only.

Reading though the comments provides an even more interesting story and a broader perspective. Comments by several former and current Wiredlings, including a few responses by Chris Anderson who passes blame to corporate (Conde Nast) decision-making. link

While all these things are what the designers at Netflix work hard on every day, they go unmentioned by their customers. It's not because these aspects aren't important. It's because the designers have done their job really well: they've made them invisible.

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Personally, I welcome this competition. Seeing the work of other developers whose work I respect and admire acts as an inspiration. Looking at how other developers tackle a problem domain often adds insight into solving similar issues with my own code. In other cases, it shows me how I don’t want to implement a feature (without the need to prototype.) In short, competition will make Twitterrific better.

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The more we learn about people, and how our brains process information, the more we learn the truth of that phrase: form and function aren’t separate items. If we believe that style somehow exists independent of functionality, that we can treat aesthetics and function as two separate pieces, then we ignore the evidence that beauty is much more than decoration. Our brains can’t help but agree.

Can’t say that I agree with all the examples he used. But important points that stand on their own, nonetheless. link

Another similar photo compares packaging for the 12" iBook purchased in 2006 next to the box for the current 13" white MacBook purchased in 2009.

In both cases, the newer notebook is larger than the older notebook, yet still uses a much smaller box.

After recent Unboxings™ of the MB and MBP, I noted there’s no less “stuff” in the box as far as hardware, adapters, install discs, and printed material. The new packaging designs just forgo the thick molded styrofoam padding of the old boxes.

Ultimately, if authors are happy, there’s no problem. But it seems like there’s a divide between two types of writers online: unaffiliated independent bloggers running their own sites and bloggers employed by larger online magazines.

Also, be sure to read the related response from Anil Dash about how the Associated Press plans to handle a similar reuse of content:

If the Associated Press made its argument on the basis of credibility and reputation, transparency and accountability, as the web-native publishers have, it would be far easier to defend their desire to share in the business model developed by the aggregators.

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Fast text replacement with canvas and VML – no Flash or images required.

Oooh. Must experiment with this soon. (via @hicksdesign)link

Yesterday was my first day @twitter.

Yes, it’s true. After reading a bit of speculation over the past few weeks, I’ll confirm here that I am, indeed, joining Twitter. I don’t remember ever being as eager or excited to start a new job as I’ve been with this one. (Thus, why I only took one week off between jobs.)

Over the past year, I spoke with several organizations about coming on board to lead a design team. But Twitter felt the like most natural fit from the very start of my talks with the team. It’s still early in Twitter’s history. The company is small. Its user base is growing rapidly. And I see lots of potential to directly impact and to help shape the Twitter brand.

Add to that the fact that I know, understand, and respect the company’s leadership. And they know and respect my work, capabilities, and philosophy. (Several of us worked together on the redesign of Blogger in 2004.) A better fit is hard to find.

As Creative Director, I’ll have a few obvious responsibilities. Like building and shaping a design team, overseeing an evolving set of design challenges for a growing list of features and uses, and contributing to the company’s overall design strategy. Other responsibilities will include taking advantage of Twitter (and other means) to collect feedback and ideas about new features, implementations, or general UI changes.

I recognize the task before us is not small nor easy. Twitter means different things for different people and organizations, and it gets used in so many different ways. Maintaining the simplicity of the service is critical. At the same time, so is supporting an expanding set of features that enable new ways for users to connect with real-time information from sources that interest them.

Despite the changes ahead, I don’t regret my decision. Sure, I left a 20,000-person company with billions of dollars in revenue to join a startup with just over 30 employees and venture capital in the bank. The shift means I need to adjust to the pace at which we move, the scope of responsibility for each employee, and expectations for available resources. It means significant changes to how we, as a company, approach problems and propose solutions. And it also means more time for me back in San Francisco. In fact, from my desk, I can look out at the old Wired building where I got my start on the web thirteen years ago. I welcome changes like this with open arms.

Here’s to new challenges and new opportunities. Even when they’re taken on, one hundred and forty characters at a time.

Update: Here’s Twitter’s announcement on the blog.

Today is my last day at Google.

I started working in-house at Google almost three years ago. I built a team from scratch. I was fortunate to hire a team of a very talented designers. We introduced Visual Design as a discipline to Google. And we produced amazing work together. I’m very proud of my team, and I wish them well. They have a lot of challenging work ahead. But for me, it’s time to move on.

Do I have something else lined up? Yes. That will be covered in Part 2. So I’m not leaving just to leave. But I’m not going to sugarcoat the reasons for my departure either. The scale at which Google operates was an early attractor for me. Potential to impact millions of people? Where do I sign? Unfortunately for me, there was one small problem I didn’t see back then.

When I joined Google as its first visual designer, the company was already seven years old. Seven years is a long time to run a company without a classically trained designer. Google had plenty of designers on staff then, but most of them had backgrounds in CS or HCI. And none of them were in high-up, respected leadership positions. Without a person at (or near) the helm who thoroughly understands the principles and elements of Design, a company eventually runs out of reasons for design decisions. With every new design decision, critics cry foul. Without conviction, doubt creeps in. Instincts fail. “Is this the right move?” When a company is filled with engineers, it turns to engineering to solve problems. Reduce each decision to a simple logic problem. Remove all subjectivity and just look at the data. Data in your favor? Ok, launch it. Data shows negative effects? Back to the drawing board. And that data eventually becomes a crutch for every decision, paralyzing the company and preventing it from making any daring design decisions.

Yes, it’s true that a team at Google couldn’t decide between two blues, so they’re testing 41 shades between each blue to see which one performs better. I had a recent debate over whether a border should be 3, 4 or 5 pixels wide, and was asked to prove my case. I can’t operate in an environment like that. I’ve grown tired of debating such minuscule design decisions. There are more exciting design problems in this world to tackle.

I can’t fault Google for this reliance on data. And I can’t exactly point to financial failure or a shrinking number of users to prove it has done anything wrong. Billions of shareholder dollars are at stake. The company has millions of users around the world to please. That’s no easy task. Google has momentum, and its leadership found a path that works very well. When I joined, I thought there was potential to help the company change course in its design direction. But I learned that Google had set its course long before I arrived. Google was a massive aircraft carrier, and I was just a small dinghy trying to push it a few degrees North.

I’m thankful for the opportunity I had to work at Google. I learned more than I thought I would. I’ll miss the free food. I’ll miss the occasional massage. I’ll miss the authors, politicians, and celebrities that come to speak or perform. I’ll miss early chances to play with cool toys before they’re released to the public. Most of all, I’ll miss working with the incredibly smart and talented people I got to know there. But I won’t miss a design philosophy that lives or dies strictly by the sword of data.