I got an Arduino UNO for Christmas. Arduino is an open-source electronics prototyping platform. It can be used to create anything from a simple web server to a hand-held game. With a few additional inexpensive electronic components, you can create a working prototype of a machine that actually does something useful or fun. Continue reading “Arduino Brain Machine”
Product Layout and Design Is Going Simple.
It may be a response to economics, or it may just be a fashion trend. Product design is going simple. As an example, let’s look at Tom’s of Maine toothpaste line of products. They used to have very colorful boxes. The different colors made it easy to locate your preferred flavor on the shelf faster. I always looked for the purple box for the Fennel-flavored Propolis & Myrrh Anti-plaque toothpaste. Today, I went in to find the box and it was gone. It took me a few seconds, but I saw that all the boxes were now all the same layout and same color, but each sporting a slightly different color photo of whatever flavor they are. The emphasis is taken off ‘antiplaque’ and ‘natural’ and put on ‘propolis & myrrh’. Continue reading “Product Layout and Design Is Going Simple.”
iPWNage
I was recently in a dentist’s waiting room reading a library book. A couple walks in and notifies the receptionist they are their for their cleaning appointments. They sat down to wait as well and take out their iPads, with their matching black neoprene sleeves and begin amusing themselves, oddly together and separately. I suppose that would be no different from me reading my book. I probably wouldn’t have noticed, except the guy had his audio ‘haptic’ feedback noises set to ‘on’. Continue reading “iPWNage”
