The Best Product Designs of 2006 78
conq writes "BusinessWeek has made available IDSA's annual list of the best designed products of the year." From the article: "The Talking Tactile Tablet system allows visually impaired individuals to access graphic imagery they otherwise would not be able to enjoy. Instead of using Braille, which the majority of visually impaired people do not read, users hear audio descriptions of each component of an image. Key considerations of the design were ease-of-use, ruggedness, cost and providing a pleasing aesthetic experience, namely how the product feels."
What the.... ? (Score:5, Interesting)
So I guess I won't be seeing this list. But I have a pretty clear idea of a site that won't be making my own list of best designed anything ever...
Re:Before We Announce the Best of 2006... (Score:5, Interesting)
And some highlights for me...
What does sadden me is that the most popular category for winners seemed to be office chairs. How amazingly boring.
Sweet Chair (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Is this supposed to be objective (Score:4, Interesting)
Take the Reveal CT-80 on page 6.
http://images.businessweek.com/ss/06/06/idea2006/
That explosive detection machine may not scan as many bags per hour as the competition, but it is intuitive, affordable, and miles ahead of the competition when you consider how the machine exists within an environment or how users interact with the hardware.
I'm not saying engineering and features are not important, I'm simply saying those products are reviewed on a number of levels.
In the case of that camera I wouldn't spend time harping on what isn't there. I'd concentrate on why a panel of seasoned industrial designers found value in that particular product.
Re:Before We Announce the Best of 2006... (Score:2, Interesting)
Number five is a crock (Score:2, Interesting)
"Understand that there is no glass, no prisms, NO MOVING PARTS, and no need for fans to provide heat dissipation. In addition, it runs on less than 1.5W at full power and less than 350mW while displaying typical video images (50% average pixel amplitude. There is also an infinite focus, meaning that no matter how close or far away, there are no optics to adjust for a clear picture"
It's more legible than the Samsung, uses less power, is smaller, and has INFINITE focus. It is however, just monochrome, but I would still enjoy an anywhere projector like that. I could use it for displaying video, cell phone video chat, pictures, movies, ads, reading... I want one!