Hyped: Being Flat
Mood:  quizzical
Now Playing: Shadow Conspiracy
Topic: Technology
Lately I have been getting the feeling that some trendy technology products are 'blowing their own horn' way too loud when it comes to technological innovation, and seem to mix form factor with technological achievement.

On par with the all-out health-craze where being on a diet is as much part of daily life as is overeating, now the consumer seems to have developed a taste for flat products. Are their pockets too full or too small?

My guess is that these are too full. If I would carry around Credit Cards, Cash, Coins, Keys, Blackberry, Cellular phone, iPod, Headphones and whatnot, anything flat would appeal to me also!

Take for example Motorola's RAZOR, allegedly responsible for the successfull 're-birth of Motorola'. It's flat yes, but so what? There is nothing in the device that other devices can not do. Also the 'ROKR' in my opinion just plain stinks.

Then the Apple iPod. Popular because you can play music on it. Also here, I don't see what is so special about it, for walkmans have existed forever and, there are many devices (.MP3 players, smartphones) that can do that too already, and then some. Like making a phonecall for example. Not surpringly then that it's most popular version (the Nano) is also, you guessed it, flat.

So as a new rule of thumb for being an innovative company in 2006:

Make something Flat

Claim it is a miracle

Made by Oobio at 3:18 PM EET | Post Comment | Permalink