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nike-entering a new era? (40.01078714046552 , 116.54296875) Nike is a brand that was built on the back of raw emotion of sports, but is it about to change?

Are product performance and technological innovation going to be the drivers from now on?

Take a look at the amazing exhibition the brand is putting on in Beijing that celebrates the 100 most important innovations in the company's history.

In the past, the company has been reluctant to let technology dominate the story, but in this show, it's the star.

Perhaps, the brand feels it needs to demonstrate the substance that lies at the heart of the company and put fear into anyone, especially the smaller Chinese upstarts, that Nike's success isn't something that can be easily copied.


Posted by Ed Cotton Nice piece from The Economist that follows the life of Nokia's Jan Chipchase (see our previous post)

It's a film that uses photos and a phone recording.

Jan offers his observations on technology in his work life and life in general.



Posted by Ed Cotton Core 77 has a great podcast on the new MOMA exhibition "Design and the Elastic Mind".

It features a few interviews from the opening night and a longer sit down discussion with famed curator Paola Antonelli.

The interview is Paola is especially good, as she talks about the idea behind the exhibit, the process of curating and highlights some of MOMA's future plans for bringing a Boeing 747 into the collection.

My big take-away from the broadcast is the emergence of two interesting forces that are now shaping contemporary design thinking.

1. The shift from the decorative to the serious- designers are no longer content creating beautiful objects- they want to have an impact. Design and the Elastic Mind is all about the intersection between science/technology and design.

2. The idea of "beta" is now present in the design world- work in progress is good and objects no longer need to be finished to be presented.


Posted by Ed Cotton

Posted by Ed Cotton how to make user-generated technology (37.835140748504415 , -122.5056266784668) We are now pretty much done with the whole idea of consumers making ads, at least in the mass sense of the big competitions and contests.

No doubt they are still going to happen and consumers are going to still go off on their own and create gems like the Apple iTouch spot and manage to get discovered.

What about taking user-generation and consumer involvement further?

2008 might see the start of the emergence of more direct user involvement and engagement in the creation, customization and use of products.

This week, all eyes will be focused on the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas where the big brands will be competing to see who has the biggest plasma.

In general, the world of consumer electronics has been pretty much one-way traffic; brands create flashy, appealing toys that redefine the experience, we go weak at the knees, buy the product, plug it in and use it for 12 months until the next thing appears.

We do nothing, but worship and use the device, but we can’t really do anything else with it.

At this year’s CES, an interesting little start-up called Bug Labs will be showcasing its wares.

Bug’s goal is to turn the industry on its head and offer up “Lego-like” components that people can configure and program to suit their needs.

Here’s how they describe their mission.

Bug Labs is a new kind of technology company, enabling a new generation of engineers to tap their creativity and build any type of device they want, without having to solder, learn solid-state electronics, or go to China. Bug Labs envisions a future where CE stands for Community Electronics, the term "mashups" applies equally to hardware as it does to Web services, and entrepreneurs can appeal to numerous markets by inventing "The Long Tail" of devices.

Bug gets extra points for getting The Long Tail into their mission statement.

The format is to provide a programmable mini Linux computer and modules that attach to it such as screens, GPS etc. The user can then configure the device anyway they want to.


While it’s clear not every Joe Six-Pack has the time, interest or inclination to program and develop their own PDA, some do.

For the big consumer electronics brands out there, there are a couple of things to take away from this.

1.    What can you do to provide a more personalized and customizable experience for your users?  Think User-Perfected, rather than User-Generated

2.    Shouldn’t things generally be more modular- wouldn’t we get less wastage that way?



Posted by Ed Cotton A couple of golden products have been introduced in recent weeks, is it a case of "bling" moving into the world of consumer technology?

1. The Gold Mac

Not something available in the Apple store, but a custom job using diamonds and 24k gold made by Computer Choppers



2. Lacie Golden Disc

A hard drive designed by Ora-Ito for disc company Lacie


3. iPhone in Gold (Thanks Adrian)

Available at Goldstriker, who have the ability to turn any phone into a golden object and lots of other things besides.




Posted by Ed Cotton