Paul Merrill
I’ve always thought it was strange that Apple went in opposite directions for their iPad and iPhone lines.
Version 1 of the iPad has rectangular edges. Version 2 has a clamshell design.
The iPhone? Version 3 has a clamshell design. Version 4 has rectangular edges.
Apple is going divergent directions with these two product lines.
Preference for me? I like the clamshell.
I saw these and had to take a photo to share with you.
I love them. Almost makes me wanna have a baby again just so he or she could have a pair. (Don’t worry – that’s not gonna happen.)
So we bought this Roku box recently. With the cheapest Netflix subscription (USA), it allows us to stream videos to our TV. We don’t have cable, so this is a great alternative.
Anyhow, you’ll notice the fabric “tag” on both the remote and the box itself. Roku stole the idea from Levi’s. (I don’t have a problem with that – Roku is not a competitor for Levi’s in any way!) But what a creative combination – fabric with hard shiny plastic!
Takeaway: What are some ways you can bring the unexpected into your work today?
Some occasional late nights find me surfing a few style sites that feature images like I’ve shown here. Every one of the images shows something that originated before 1975. Some may be updated (as in the watch bands), but their roots go way back.
So what’s old is cool again.
This can be a good thing. Some designs are worthy of repeating. (Some are not.) Some old designs function well and others do not…
(Tomorrow – back to the regularly scheduled programming – more observations from my Asia trip.)
I loved these signs. The top one looks like a pregnant lady’s tummy is radiating heat. (Real meaning – give your seat up for pregnant ladies.) The bottom sign looks like if you push the button, fire will come out at you. (Real meaning – fire alarm.)
Vuka. It’s a new-to-me “Intelligent Energy Drink”. My 14-year old son bought it because he thought the bottle was cool. And it is.
However, his comment on what was inside: “pretty disgusting”. He also described it as a “fake energy drink”.
My take: the container is hugely wasteful. The bottle is heavy-gauge aluminum and must have accounted for half of the cost of the product. If the lid were up to the same standard of permanence, it would be a nice thing to hang onto. But it will probably last for about two refills and then strip out. Sad.
Update: See some interesting comments and a rebuttal in the comments.
We got this vacuum cleaner about a year ago. My mom died and we inherited it.
Anyhow, I like the bag-less aspect. Heather doesn’t.
But the one thing that they did wrong is the power cord. It comes out of the side! A very simple way to make cleaning rugs with it easier: have the cord come out of the top of the handle! As it is, I have to hold the cord with the other hand to keep it from running under the brushes.
(And yes, I miss my mom. I wish she were using it and not us.)
This is a house. It looks like an office. The owner paid somewhere north of $4 million, I’d guess.
Mistake? The owners hired an office architect to build their house, rather than a proper architect who knows houses. Some architects operate well in designing both residential and commercial buildings. Not this one.
Takeaway? Hire someone who has proven themselves to be successful in the area you need help – not the field you’d like them to be successful in. (There is, of course, a place for giving people experience. But not in every arena. I’d hate to have an amateur do bypass surgery on my heart.)
I took this photo along the Highline Canal in Greenwood Village, Colorado. The poor quality is due to using my camera phone.
We did a family grocery shopping trip the other day. I was thrilled to see the top of a Nature’s Path granola box.
In January, I blogged about how Kashi, a “natural” cereal manufacturer, had gotten things wrong by making their boxes much larger than the cereal inside required.
Nature’s Path read my post (not really – they probably figured it out on their own) and made their boxes in just right sizes to fit the cereal inside! Yay!!
(And yes, I voted with my wallet – I bought two boxes. Being on sale was a special bonus!)
The new iPod Nano surprised me. I expected to dislike it. However, I was pleasantly surprised.
It helps to think of this one as a different class of iPod than the previous generation Nano. If you try to compare it with the old one, you’ll be disappointed. (This one loses a decent video camera and the ability to play videos.)
Other than the high price for what you get, I consider this to simply just be an amazing iPod Shuffle. It plays music well – you can navigate songs. If you are a jogger with the Nike + kit, it will help you measure your run. There’s a cool FM radio. Finally, there are some great accessibilty features for those who need such.
If you don’t need all that the incredible new iPod Touch* offers – and can afford it – this one may be for you.
(I took the photos at an Apple Store with my phone’s camera – thus the poor quality. They don’t like anyone to take photos with a real camera inside their stores. I know. I tried once. And Justin Bieber? I had never heard him before, so I took that opportunity. I hope I don’t have to listen to him again.)
Funny enough, while I was there I played with an iPod Classic. I was amazed at how fossil-esque the interface now feels. (I had one before they were called the Classic.)
* My son Ben wanted the new Touch so much while we were at the store that he was willing to sacrifice his right arm. I didn’t let him.
