Exciting

The Internet of Things needs to move beyond context-shifting old technology

Wed, 15 Mar 2017 11:15:00 +0000

Joto is an “internet connected drawing board”; it’s whimsical, and it’s fun. But I just can’t shake my doubts about it.

A Little Printer Mystery

Tue, 09 Sep 2014 13:15:00 +0100

Some sad news from BERG today, one consequence of which being that the Little Printer service may only be running for another six months or so, depending on whether or not another company can be found to buy the service.

This reminded me that I still haven’t posted about a Little Printer thing that happened earlier this year: printers everywhere started producing strange, unexpected output.

Little Advent Calendar Publication

Mon, 18 Nov 2013 12:15:00 +0000

We’ve made another publication for small, connected printers like our own Printer and BERG’s Little Printer, but this one’s a bit more seasonal.

You can subscribe via BERGcloud remote here.

Making this publication has had us thinking more about the opportunities for the unexpected.

Making things — it's all about the polish

Thu, 14 Nov 2013 09:18:52 +0000

We enjoyed Phil Gyford’s new application Twelescreen earlier today, and the background post he wrote about how it came to be, and how he’s even somewhat unsettled that the tools of Big Brother might seem so… useful.

However, what particularly resonated with us was this part of his post about the software itself:

Not least, I’ve been reminded how much longer it takes to make something with as few rough edges as possible and that has code suitable for other people to use … even though I had something quite similar up and running very early on in that process.

This has been one of the most important lessons we’ve learned while making.

Hello, World

Mon, 11 Nov 2013 15:18:52 +0000

Hello, in fact, just to you specifically. Thanks for looking in. Welcome to Exciting.

This is a new company, with a new focus on exploring how to use simple software systems to make the world a little bit better. We are curious; we like to prototype things, often without knowing for certain whether or not they are going to work. Printer is a great example of that. Not knowing for certain that something is going to work is part of the fun, and fosters serendipity.

Crimer Show Printer Publication

Wed, 06 Nov 2013 17:00:00 +0000

We’ve been exploring the possibilities of small, connected printers for a while now – not only how to build them, via our Printer platform and dabbling with BERG’s Little Printer, but more importantly how best to employ them.

Is there a balance between utility and whimsy where this new medium shines? We think so, and we think we have a good example … (puts on sunglasses) … to share with you.

Introducing HeyList!

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 13:00:00 +0000

Probably the most important and useful aspect of going to conferences and meetups is spending time with the people there. It’s often useful finding out what new things communities are working on, what they are interested in, and where they are going for dinner (or a dram).

The obvious way to feel the collective pulse of an event is via Twitter, and hashtags aren’t too bad for listening in on a conference hive-mind. That said, we have a suspicion that there could be a better option.

Printer Questions

Tue, 01 May 2012 01:05:00 +0100

The response to our open source printer project has been amazing, but some people rightly have questions, so I’ll try to answer them here.

If you’ve got a question about Printer, or want to discuss your ideas for printer, why not check the FAQ on the wiki, ask on the mailing list, or follow the printer project on Twitter?

Hello, Printer

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0100

For over a year, I have been playing around with printing things out on a receipt printer. Recently, a few accidents of implementation gave more life to my tinkerings than I had originally intended.

Update!