Hard Cases for a Handle Theory

Re the word “afford” (a nod I suspect to “affordance”), see Don Norman’s classic The Design of Everyday Things and Jenny Davis, How Artifacts Afford: The Power and Politics of Everyday Things.

Great piece, beautifully written.

For others who, at first glance, assumed the publication was some kind of magazine dedicated to woodworking, it is not. From their 'About' page:

Immaterial Incorporated (aka Cabinet) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) art and culture organization founded in 1999. By operating with the most expansive and inclusive definition of “culture” possible, one that includes both the quotidian and the extraordinary, Cabinet aims to foster curiosity about the world we have made and inhabit. We believe that curiosity is the very basis of ethics insofar as a deeper understanding of our social and material cultures encourages us both to be better custodians of the world and at the same time allows us to imagine it otherwise.

Then there's the metaphorical "handle": a horse that "has a handle on him" is so well trained that one can put him in every situation just as if he had had a handle and could be picked up and set down at will...

(it might be interesting to explore the relations between this notion and "handiness", or to how we say cars "handle" well)