let's face it: we're interfacing...

What a monumental subject to tackle right out of the gate. Interface. What is an interface? What does it encompass? What does it suggest? What does it think about? Who are it's favorite authors? Is it lonely? Is it tired?

What does my first source for definitions (the handy dandy hand-held dictionary, of course) have to say for itself?

Interface: 1) a plane forming the common boundary between two parts of matter or space 2) a point or means of interaction between two systems, groups, etc. vt., vl. faced, facing: to interact with (another system, group, etc.)

This holds true to what I left our last studio session with: interface is what lies between two things. It's the screen/pixels/browser window that lies between you and the inner workings of your computer. It's the pane of glass that lies between your body and the world outside your home. It's the travel coffee mug that lies between you and your precious, precious coffee in the morning.

It's the membrane, the surface, the skin, the (sometimes) intangible that is betwixt and between and often unseen or unknown (sometimes, by design). It is what unites and divides, enables and hinders, delights and confounds: and it seems that the goal for so long has been to make it seamless (and maybe seemless) and nearly invisible and un-noticeable.

But why couldn't designers and developers sometimes strive to make an interface that was in your face? Delightful and unexpected and so lush and interesting that the act of interacting would be full of joy and wonder? That could make for an interface worth writing home to mama about?