Wikipedia defines “Modding” as a “slang expression that is derived from the verb "modify". Modding refers to the act of modifying a piece of hardware or software or anything else for that matter, to perform a function not originally conceived or intended by the designer.”
The context in which I speak when I speak of modding is related to the technology and gadgetry that most of us surround ourselves with.
Most of us own atleast one computer, cell phone, music player, car stereo, TV, etc.. (the list can go on and on for some of us!)
There is no denying the place that technology has in our lives. And whether you like it or not, it is only going to get more and more deeply integrated as we move forward. We truly are a digital civilization!
Once we accept that technology is a way of life, we then move into how we use it. How do we derive benefit from it? How does IT work for us?
This depends more on the way that the technology itself is built and marketed to us. The way I see it, there are 2 design schools.
This depends more on the way that the technology itself is built and marketed to us. The way I see it, there are 2 design schools.
The first one, I’ll call the “Apple School” because I can think of no bigger example of a company today that practices it! This is basically a “one-size-fits-all” philosophy. You take a concept, develop a product and implement its design in a way that will do 90% of the work for 90% of the people, 90% of the time. Make a million units and convince every tom, dick and harry you can find to hand over their money! This has worked very well for Apple (iPod, iPad, ring any bells?) and made them a bigger company than Microsoft! The good thing about this approach for the digital consumer is, it makes the purchase decision easier. Need a music player? You can pick anyone you like as long as it’s an iPod! :P And to an extent, once you get used to an interface, you can keep working on it without having to learn anything new. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work 100% for anyone 100% of the time.
The other school of thought that a lot of companies (Samsung, LG, etc.) use is to breed a swarm of designs and have them all out in the market at once. No matter what product you look at – TV’s, microwaves, home theaters, air conditioners, you name it! There are enough variants to make you break into a sweat just thinking about buying one! The idea that these manufacturers start off with is noble – that every human is individual and unique with different needs. Ergo the need for differently designed products to suit the different needs. But the problem arises in that the companies are not resourceful enough to understand the needs of every consumer perfectly or dish out enough variants for each individual to find the perfect match. The consumers tend to rarely find a perfect fit here and the luxury of choice here actually starts to look like a curse! This is compounded by the fact that sales people in stores are mostly incompetent – both in technical knowledge of the product that they are looking to sell and in the soft skills needed to understand the buyer’s needs and suggest an appropriate product. Seriously, how many times have you bought something and had to go back to the show room and return it because it was junk for your needs? It is situations like this that actually make a bunch of people jump ship to the Apple cart! Are all you Korean and Taiwanese companies listening?
The 3rd approach is “modding”. This school of thought assumes that your needs will never be perfectly matched by any one product. So you start off by picking one that comes closest and then “modify” it to meet your requirements to the T.
Needless to say that this takes more involvement from the end user – more investment in terms of spending time to understand the options that are available, reading up and learning how to run the mods and then actually running them! What you get in return is:
- Perfection in what you want – a customized product
- The joy of creating something unique
- Bragging rights and a ticket to geekdom! :)
If all this seems too roundabout or if you are feeling bored that you ever started reading this post, then modding may not be for you. However, if you are getting excited and already thinking about what tinkering project you can start next week, then hang on! In my next post, I'll talk more about some of my tech stuff and mods I have run on them. In the meantime, google is a wonderful resource! Read up and get your feet wet!
Adios!
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