I’m back from dConstruct09. I left feeling very optimistic and excited about the future; I felt I got a little more out of it than I did in 2008. Especially interesting were the ideas of a shift from objects to services, as Adam Greenfield of Nokia suggested—he used specific example of car sharing—and an analogous shift from things to experiences was suggested by August de los Reyes of Microsoft Surface.

The shift from object to service is one I’d like to see implemented in a public transport context. I would passionately love to see a perfect public transport network and ecosystem where no vehicle needs to be personally owned. The dream becomes less impossible as urban places become beautifully networked; as more people gravitate towards living in cities.

We have broken your business, now we want your machines. — Russell Davies to the newspaper industry (the audience loved him even before he chucked Kinder Eggs at them). Photo by Matt Biddulph.

And now, a personal update:

The conference fell on decision day for me. So my decision: I’m moving to London to study MSc Human-Computer Interaction with Ergonomics (abbreviated as MSc HCI-E) at UCLIC, University College London. The induction week begins on September 28th so I’m hunting for accommodation near Bloomsbury now, hoping to move to London within the next couple of weeks. I’m happy that I’ll be close to family in Oxford, close to friends in Brighton, and a tube trip away from friends in London. I’m really looking forward to living in a big, stinky city.

Most importantly!

I want to keep one foot in industry during my studies, so I’m looking for internships and/or contract work at technology and design companies. If you know of something suitable, get in touch! — Rebecca