Technological Design
Technology advances everyday, and it will continue to advance faster and faster. The market is full of fancy computers, laptops, mp3 players, game consoles, TVs, DVD players, etc. As great as the advancement of technology is, I feel that the design of certain things is getting worse.
For some reason designers got it in their head that the smaller something is, the better it will be. This is true to an extent; however, I’m starting to get the feeling that designers are crossing the threshold of when things can get too small. When things get too small they become much easier to lose and/or break. For example, the new IPOD Nanos are incredibly cool looking, but due to the mere size of it I feel like I would lose it immediately or I would snap it in half if I held onto it too tightly. When I think of it though I really wonder if it is the designers at fault or are they merely reacting to what society is demanding of them. In today’s society people seem to be obsessed with the sleek new look. I admit that all these new devices are very attractive with the thin designs and all the touch screens, but is it worth it if the device can be broken or lost so easily? I think designers need to find a good balance between durability and size, rather than just focus on the size. Obviously, if they just begin designing things huge again then no one would buy that thing.
Also, technological designers are coming up with great ideas by putting multiple devices together. For example, the new iphone has the internet, mp3 capability, a camera, etc. I feel that devices are becoming too compact. Nothing is simple anymore, and the problem with this is that if that device should so happen to break, then you just lost you phone, your mp3 player, and your camera for example. It is nice to unify everything into one easily held device, but at the same time are we giving up quality for convenience? This can translate back to society, meaning that people are in such a hurry these days that we seem to be losing quality just so we can gain time. At some point the designers have to realize that there such a thing as too small and too complex.
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