Our book:
Defensive Design for the Web: How To Improve Error Messages, Help, Forms, and Other Crisis Points
Available Now ($16.99)
Most Popular (last 15 days)
Looking for old posts?
37signals Mailing List
37signals Services
Syndicate
Nothing Just Happens
29 Jan 2004 by Jason Fried
Yes, someone invented CtrlAltDelete. Reminds you that nothing just happens. Someone is behind every little thing. Someone designed that nut. That socket. That switch. That vent. Even that fork and knife. Those things weren’t even ideas at one point. Appreciate them.
4 comments so far (Post a Comment)
29 Jan 2004 | Sean Devine said...
This post reminds me of a great book, The Evolution of Useful Things" by Henry Petroski. If I remember correctly, the first chapter of the book is titled How The Fork Got Its Tines. It's a fun book that's very well researched.
29 Jan 2004 | One of several Steves said...
Of course, the flip side of that is realizing that the truly bad things had to have someone think that it was a good idea to create such a thing. "Gigli" and the Pontiac Aztek didn't just happen; people had to think these were actually good ideas.
Frankly, I'd feel better if stuff like that did just happen, rather than knowing people had to create it and approve it.
29 Jan 2004 | pecky said...
The invention of hip language and cool phrases has always intrigued me. I always try to imagine the context in which they were born.
30 Jan 2004 | yafujifide said...
And the inventor of the invention rests happily in his grave.
