My phone alarm sounded off this morning and as usual it turned itself off after 30 seconds, while the outside screen still flashed “alarm”. Now I’m not sure about anyone else, but I’d usually just sleep through this or being the sleepyhead that I am, I’d probably just smile in my sleep knowing that the buggy noise would turn off within a few seconds which has happened. Now, I’m not sure who decided to have the sound turn off automatically before I even touched the phone, but from my perspective, this is broken, which also reminds me of a wonderful website, THIS IS BROKEN.com.

This is Broken is a website run my Mark Hurst at Good Experience which also runs the awesome GEL Conference (Good Experience Live) which I have attended for the last few years. Everyone should subscribe to their newsletter and blog as well here.

One such submission I made to THIS IS BROKEN is pictured above. In short, I went to best buy to buy paper, the only paper was behind this metal column, and I had a hectic time crawling behind the tower to this stack of paper. Read the post and comments about it here.

First there were those t-shirts, hats, golf balls, and other objects that you could embed your name into and give as great gifts. Then came the ipods with the etched personalizations. Then came the “create it yourself” trend in making your own designs and looks in products. Video games also allowed people to map their own faces onto basketball players, though they looked like contorted lego heads. Now comes a rather interesting twist to the world of MP3’s with the experimental trial run with artist Jessica Simpson’s “Your Name, Your Song”. You pay $1.99 and get your very own personalized version of Jessicas smash hit single “A public Affair” featuring you!(and the other thousand people that have your name)

Is it worth the extra price, I’m not sure, but for some fan fanatics, I’m sure it’s a dream. You can hear a sample of the customized song on yahoos webpage which uses the name “Yahoo” which makes for a rather interesting song since “yahoo” also somewhat means, bozo. These new MP3’s are also unrestricted, meaning, anyone can copy them once purchased.(I guess someone can buy all 1000 names and sell them for 50 cents now) Anyhow, the day that you walk into a movie theater, pay an extra 50$ to get a body scan and have James Bond replaced by none other than yourself might be a fun experience.

This somewhat reminds me about the post I made about the paradox of choice. Soon when you want to buy a song, you’ll also be asked in what tempo, which remix, which words, which language, which quality, and which pitch. This is very much comparable to how you use to be able to just buy a pair of jeans, though now you are asked, what kind, what length, ripped, stained, washed, buttoned, zippered, etc. I’ll still debate the question if choice is good or bad, but as far as I know, choice is always going to increase.
via paidcontent

It’s here! Tesla Motors just announced their new all electronics sports car due to hit the market next year. I’m not the type that posts on cars much, but for an all electronics car that is virtually silent and makes no pollution, I’m all game for it. I’d write more about it, but WIRED has a short article to chow down on. Also, there’s a brief video on youtube here. Oooo.. the smart car I posted about earlier also announced an electronic version!

Some quick facts on the Tesla:
- Zero to 60 in 4 seconds (silently)
- Top speed 130 mph
- 3.5 hours to charge
- 250 miles/charge, which equals about 1-2 cents a mile.
- $100,000

During my visit to Chicago, I got to experience Millennium Park. One project that stood out was Crown Fountain by Jaume Plensa. You can read more about it at their site, but what I want to point out was how happy, joyful, and excited kids were to interact with, play, and to get wet at this particular piece. Kids would run around, line up, learn the art pieces routine. At times, kids would start talking to the projected faces, telling them to hurry up(get them wet). Kids lined up in anticipation right where the fountain would hit. The projected images would hint and tease onlookers of the next event. Once the water started to spill outwards, kids would scream, run around, smile, and be in such delight.

One thing I noticed however was that the only people doing all of this were kids… parents and others would just watch, with an occasional couple treading through the water. Why were there only kids having such fun. Why do we as humans lose our sense of play as we age. I’m not saying all of us lose this amazing ability to play with anything, but many do.

In design, play is one of those things that keeps me inspired, it’s an excuse to rip apart, throw, and crash products together, and I’m allowed to be goofy, cause that’s where great ideas usually come from. On the other side of things, perhaps we as adults do not like to get wet, as tons of adults would act goofy around the big bean(cloud gates, or pics here) mirrored sculpture. Anyhow, this is just a brief thought and reminder of how curious, goofy, and joyful we are, especially as a child. More fun pics I took at this fountain after the jump! (more…)

Here’s an interesting set of laws for innovation. I know there are tons of lists out there, but it does’nt hurt to read another one.

Power Law 1: Don’t think “new product” - think social value.
Power Law 2: Think social value before “tech”.
Power Law 3: Enable human agency. Design people into situations, not out of them.
Power Law 4: Use, not own. Possession is old paradigm.
Power Law 5: Think P2P, not point-to-mass.
Power Law 6: Don’t think faster, think closer.
Power Law 7: Don’t start from zero. Re-mix what’s already out there.
Power Law 8: Connect the big and the small.
Power Law 9: Think whole systems (and new business models, too).
Power Law 10: Think open systems, not closed ones.

via core77
doors of perception

I ran into some moments this week where my perception and respect for certain places or things lost some points. I’ll site a few here briefly:

1. Door bell rings, 2 guys introduce to me to a charity, they keep acting nice, personable, asking me several questions, saying I’m cool, let us send you some free magazines, we should hang out, etc. Next thing I know, all my info is on a receipt and they want my signature. They were sneaky in obtaining my info, without asking the me directly. When I realized this, I said, no thank you, and they ripped the paper up, took the brochures they said I could keep, and sneered at me with some rather harsh words. This was just a reminder that I personally hate it when I am pushed into a sale without realizing it. Please just ask rather than lure. Sure you can push for a sale, but making a sale is not always the most important thing in a sale experience.

2. Art store visit. I bought some nice mylar paper to draw on, new person folds paper in 4 and stuffs in bag! I just looked at her oddly, and manager replaced my paper. When a person running a store does not know how to handle the products they are selling, that store has lost some points in my view.

3. I received a promotional gift for some free printed photos. How great. I went to the website, went through the painful membership process and uploaded pictures, only to find out there was no way to get the promotional gift. Perhaps there was, but I dug deep and could not figure it out…and I’m a tech type, so, if it’s hard for me, it’s probably really hard for many others. Case in point, if your giving away something free, make it easy to get, then let the customer decide if they want to return to learn about your services or products. Start them off with a smile, not a bad experience. I’m never returning to this site.

4. I found a new blog that seemed pretty cool, because it was from a pretty famous person….then, a few days later, the company writing the blog puts up a post to fyi the readers that that the posts are not written by that person, but just in his perspective not written by him. My delete button was the next thing pressed.

I love the internet. If ya need a good laugh, check out this drunk hamsters video here. Enjoy!

update: yet another stupendously funny hamster video on a wheel!

I love it when products add that lil extra something to refreshen themselves after some time. In this instant, I’m talking about some smart and whimsical instructional graphics on the inside of Wrangler Jeans, which depict the proper way to slip into that special pair of jeans. (via ettf, more examples there)
I’ve recently been rediscovering elements in products that add that extra flare for extra kudo points after some years. An old book I bought, fell apart, only to discover hidden images inside the pages, some new jeans by puma slowly reveal several logos the more you wash it, the good ole hidden tracks in the music CD or now some DVD’s, and now these jeans with awesome instructional graphics which I would never notice until later on. It’s these little experiences that make me smile about that particular brand, label, or product.

Whohooo! Another Dunny series is due out, July 27th!
Link: Kidrobot
via: VinylPulse