The Tyranny of Choice - It's just too much!

This photo from Gizmodo's Matt Buchanan sums up, in his words, "the problem with Sony." Sounds about right to me - having to select from such a large array becomes a daunting proposition, and turns the consumer off entirely. It's definitely a balance, though - too little choice and the consumer feels constrained, too much and he feels intimidated. As is often the case, Apple sets a good example - within each product category, there are only two or three variations from which to choose. Just about right!

Back to Basics.

Hey, when this is what you need, this is a pretty good design. And yeah, that's all I've got to say!

[by Alejandro Bona of the University of Art and Design Lausanne, via Crib Candy & Gizmodo]

Video Game Controllers Over Time...

This illustration by Damien Lopez (to whom all links seem to be broken) puts over 30 years of video game controllers on a single page. Looking at them, I find it more interesting to ask questions than to try to answer them. So, for your consideration:

-Does this show how far we've come, or how controls have pretty much stayed the same?

-Do any of these interfaces map especially well to games they've controlled? The Wii seems like an obvious winner, but others might be surprisingly well-matched...

-What the hell was ColecoVision thinking??

-What's next?

[via lift, Chewing Pixels, Offworld, and Gizmodo]

Pizza Calculator - Doing the really hard math...

Computers are just better than people at basic math. So they should also be better at the complex field of Pizza Mathematics, with its variables of toppings, slices, dietary restrictions, diameters, areas, and deliciousness. Sure enough, along comes the Pizza Calculator, an iPhone app to take care of the hard part of ordering pizza for any number of people with different tastes. It looks pretty easy - just enter which toppings each person likes and how many slices each person wants, and viola, the numbers are crunched into Your Pizza Order! Especially since pizza orders are often complicated by extreme laziness and/or altered states of mind, this could be a real lifesaver. Oh, the age we live in!
[via Gizmodo]

iPhone + Barf Bag = In-Flight Entertainment!

The clever cats at Hodenmumps came up with this resourceful and surprisingly useful improvised iPhone holder. Tearing a few well-placed holes in an airsickness bag, and then tucking the bag into the folded-up table tray, the iPhone is properly positioned for long-haul movie screening. The height is even adjustable by sliding the bag further into or out of the table tray! And the whole thing can be made with your bare hands - important, since you won't be getting any cutting implements onto a plane anytime soon. It may not be pretty - really not pretty - but the darn thing works!
[via Random Good Stuff & Gizmodo]

Breadboard Birdfeeder - Kinda useful, VERY cute...

Curro Claret designed this DIY combo of a breadboard and birdfeeder, the simple function of which is clearly explained by the photo. So what's the verdict? Useful, perhaps - of course, it would have be installed in the right way, with the breadboard indoors and the birdfeeder outside. And possible pitfalls exist: clogs in the tube, insects or rodents crawling into the home through the tube, the air leak wasting heating or cooling energy, and so on. But the cuteness factor is through the roof - even with what appears to be a fake bird!
[via Treehugger, Craftzine, and Make]

Repair-Ready Design

Platform 21 has posted an 11-point "Repair Manifesto" expounding upon the greatness of repairing things instead of replacing them. It's a great philosophy, and there are some excellent points - my favorites:

"Repair is not anti-consumption. It is anti- needlessly throwing things away.

"Making repairs is good for the imagination. Using new techniques, tools, and materials ushers in possibility rather than dead ends."

"Don't be a slave to technology - be its master. If it's broken, fix it and make it better." (Emphasis added.)

And the recommendation for designers: "Things should be designed so that they can be repaired."

Ah, so true. Designers would love to package everything neatly for the consumer and keep all the magic hidden inside the "black box." But it's hubristic to think that your design is perfect or that your product will never break. Designing to allow repair can give the product a longer life with the user, and the positive experience of an easy repair may overshadow any negative experience of the damage that required it. Happier users, less waste - something to think about!
[via MAKE]