In just 10 years....

Sandisk has just launched a 512GB SD card. Quite an incredible feat if you think about it. It was only 10 years ago in Dec 2004 that a 512MB was making the headlines!

512GB! Wow, that's as much memory there are in a laptop! 

The bigger the mem cards, the more nonsense we tend to dump inside. Here are a couple of pics to ponder over. That Sharp phone was the first commercial phone with a camera (2MP). The first phone with a camera that took a picture was a Motorola Startac rejigged by engineer Philippe Kahn who wanted to snap a picture of his baby with a phone. That's the world's first phone pix. I wonder where's the baby now!

And the Neonode phone (credit card sized) was the first phone to unlock using finger swipe action. Note Apple! (Apple and Samsung found out during a patent court case). In terms of tech, the Neonode approach was very different. It uses an array of LED beams rather than a touch sensitive screen to achieve the finger action.

And speaking of memory cards, I've accumulated quite a few over the years. Well, truth be told, probably more recently in the last five yrs or so with the SD card being more popular. Before they, I could easily do well with a thumbdrive of just 256MB. I'm not one to listen to MP3 songs then, so any more memory would be wasted on me.

Of the collection, I like that bendable SD the best. It can be hinged in two and reveal a USB connector. Neat, no? You can see a pix of it below, the one in the transparent casing. ;-)

The MotoCampo

Man, what a sweet sweet souvenir from the 80s! The Honda MotoCompo. (Could easily be adapted for today's e-biking needs!) Originally designed as a trunk bike for the Honda Today and Honda City cars. 50cc, 2-stroke, 30 km/hr. (Note the very 80s logotype on side of bike as well as overall shape and outline. ;-))

Watch a Youtube of it: here

Here's an extreme example of a folding bike:

The Y video: Here

Private Desk, Private Room

I have had an idea to design a 'private writing desk' for a long time. This is interesting on a few levels, but I think the chair has to be real comfortable, allowing one to relax and think. It would be sweet too if the whole unit is lockable (to keep prying eyes away). 

Tech in Toys

All these electronic trick sounds used to be in a (bigger sized) remote controlled car. Now they are even available in a small sized scale model. Incredible, the various effects in such a tiny package and`essentially manual plaything. the model is well-made too!

Don't Design Chairs...Or Do.

Chair Design: A 101 class subject in every design school. It is a good design exercise in terms of form and functionality, and also in crafting something new, from an item so common, so useful, and truth-be-told, overly done.

It does help train a student to pay attention to Design History. If you don't read up, chances are somebody would have done the same thing before. That would be most embarrassing for any designer. The design may not be of the same material - as each era has its own innovation - but the mechanics could still be the same.

A chair as a design subject is also convenient as the size is pretty much quite the same. And there are ergonomic principles involved.

Then again maybe not. A chair could just be a flat bum seat.

In any case, I can see the point why these two designers (see video below) are asking folks not to waste time designing chairs. There are already too many of them! Get students to think of other things than just chairsm is what they are asking. But what?

Something topical, something green? Something portable, something stowable? How about something more eclectic such as executive office chairs? They combine form and function, material use, ergonomics, a modern statement, and probable mechanicals.

The list goes on.....(See the next video on the many types of chairs there are!)

Well, besides chairs, a student designer could look at shoes and say the same thing. In the end, it is just an exercise to encourage students to think out-of-the-box and be creative!

Maybe something creative for the disabled?

(1) Don't design chairs video: Link here

(2) Various chair designs: Link here

Hair Clip Pen

Saw this at a pasar malam (night market). And why would this be a good idea? Undo your hair to write something???

Here's another clip pen. You press one end for the pen nib to come out. You then press the clip handles to retract. But wouldn't that simply release everything under the clip?

I guess this would be rather useful in the end. A pen that holds stuff and at the same time provide a writing instrument!

Quite useful with a clipboard, even as an auxiliary clip.

Ventura and Braun Digital Watches

When I first saw this, I though the design was sweet. Then I discover that it was bastardized from a Ventura original that Braun had OEM in hopes of reviving its brand. It's a dangerous act. One, it can made Braun look desperate and second best. You can see that the original design had better ergonomic sense: it's surface is angled for a better viewing angle. This so-called BN-10 model can still work even without the ergonomics, only if it's flatter surface is small enuf to fit on the wrist. The original Ventura design (the V-tec Delta) also tries to break the flat surface symmetry of both the watch and wrist. For me, the design does work.