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(photo courtesy of jcdecaux)
"Silent Bob here's an electrical genius. He won the science fair in eighth grade by turning his mom's vibrator into a CD player using some chicken wire and shit.The mother fucker's like MacGyver. No, the mother fucker's *better than* MacGyver." (Quote from the movie "Mallrats" by Kevin Smith).
Pretty impressive. So... in that case, what came first?- Silent bob the original thinker, or Silent bob "the guy who got inspired by the right thing, in the right place, at the right time" and then... Cdplayer!. Its a tough one. The movie makes it seem like, that even the most common pothead (as Silent Bob) can modify/engineer cool things, with a little inspiration. Well ofcourse, Kevin Smiths character in the movie Mallrats, is just as fictional as a 20$ Hummer. But the essence of the situation comedy film quote in the beginning of my post, is absolutely relevant when it comes to me attempting de-bunk the grey areas between infinite layers of corporate inspiration, original thinking and re-invention. Again, theres a long walk from a sexual device (such as a vibrator) to a real functioning cdplayer. But having that walk in mind and putting fiction aside. I wonder..... How easy would it be for a reasonably intelligent well travelled designer (or company), to convert a basic, but wellknown shiny "pictureframe" design into an "original" mobile phone design? Well...
First of all lets focus on fx. Milan, Paris, New York, Los Angeles, London, Sydney, Oslo, Chile, Helsinki, Hong Kong, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Malmö... and the many more cities, that Jcdecaux, a world wide outdoor advertizing company are present with their products (and have been for years). To narrow it down, lets lock on to the french town of Plaisir, a city not far from Versaille. Here you will find the Jcdecaux designers who are responsible for the neat worldknown looks of the "Paris 3".
Yes, it is indeed an outdoor display with very smooth looks. A simple square, with nice rounded corners, cool chrome finish... all of it together, almost too classy, for being a passive display. I really wonder how this french design would look if it was to be the size of a hand. "A tiny billboard in your hand" (or pocket). A tiny chrome square, with oh so cute and shiny corners. That would be kinda cool. Hmmmmmm... (thinking).
Part 2 of "Apple: Who are you?" (plus 3 and 4), coming soon.
So... there it was. Not one, not two... but three new ipods (3 and a half if you count the new shuffle). Am i impressed? Well, to be honest im having a hard time figuring out what the big news is. Apple relatives always inherit the looks of their socalled parents, meaning... the classic ipod white on their computers got dropped for silver. So, was it unlikely to expect anything less than silver on the ipod series (instead of white)? Apple recently launched a touchscreen device (iphone). Would one not assume that this technology would be transferred to atleast one of their new devices? Anyhow, enough biggering..... what im trying to say is- From a technological standpoint, i am so far, not that impressed with apples "newest" ongoing beatsaga. From a design standpoint... i simply cannot contain myself regarding the new nano. It is directly hideous. Too fat for its own good, an epic eyesore of wellproportioned dimensions. Sometimes apples obvious visions for "music lovers" remind me of washingpowder commercials and cleaning product promises over time. Because the powers or "technologies" for washing things whiter, is so much better today, than 20 years ago. Havent you noticed? Our clothes are so white today that its beyond white, because... washing powder just keeps getting better. Right? Or perhaps i could even stretch it so far and say that apple is the new gillette... they just keep adding blades on those damn razors, and everytime you sit there...infront of your screen, suckerpunched and amazed... thinking- How the hell do they keep having room for all those blades? Right? Well you shouldnt be. Ofcourse a 5 blade gillette razor will, without a doubt, always outperform a 1 blade bic razor (the yellow ones from the same company that also makes pens... yeah). But is it fair to compare the same simple razor to a nice new pimped out philips shaver? Well......... my general question is? Has the ipod really become that much better?
Ipod touch notes - 8/16gb: Yeah its thinner and absolutely begging to be bent the wrong way one day or another. The ipod touch appeals to customers who insist on using both hands operating, while proudly attempting to impress everybody else in their school/work lunchbreaks with its wauvfactor.... and since it appeals to mostly "i dont know much about gadgets or music, and i dont care, but i want one too" and their ways of encountering everyday life. The thin ipod touch is most definently to become a fragile sucker in the wrong (apple=right) hands. Design wise, the touch is sleek and clean... apples patented circles on squares. Simple to the core, but perhaps a little bit too blingy for its own good. An all matt black ipod touch would have been nicer. Who knows, an "a chemical romance" ipod might be lurking soon enough.
Ipod classic notes - 80-160gb: Not many changes here. The screen is as always, brighter. Always good. Design has been tweeked a bit with some slopes up and over, into the ipod front itself. Acceptable, but not an actual inprovement that really ads more to the simpler design. I guess they were aiming for a "thinner" look. The big news- was 160gb of room for the biggest ipod classic. Ok? Somebody humour me- Who the hell needs 160gb space for apple related content?
Ipod nano notes - 4/8gb: So the rumours were right. Apple brought a fatty into the camp. Looks as if though, they tried really hard to squeeze everything into place. Probably the most obnoxious of apple devices ever. Be pleased that it fits in almost every pocket. Keep it there please.
Yep. alot words in one chop.... anyhoo, be sure to come back within the week and watch me track down, uncover, and document where apple found their inspirations. Yes, it will all be there... Soon enough.
