It's Just a Shrunken iPad

Yesterday Apple introduced the new iPad Mini - and with their typical fanfare, repeatedly insisted that it's "not just a shrunken iPad."  Well, a bit of wisdom I've often found to be true is that whenever a product is hyped as "not just a" or "more than a," it's almost always just that thing.  There can be exceptions, like when a feature is hidden from obvious sight, or when a specific combination of features makes it a fundamentally new product - but usually, those things are self-evident and don't need to be hyped.  If you have to say it, that's usually because it's not true - and sorry, Apple, but the iPad Mini is just a shrunken down iPad!

Hey, Dish: Zero is not Ten!

I feel sorry for the Dish technician who is getting totally screwed by bad design in this satisfaction survey.  Check it out: you call a phone number to rate the technician on his service on a scale of 1 to 10.  But to rate him a 10, you have to press zero; if you press 1-0 (sometimes also known as "ten"), it will only register the 1.  That means that if you're trying to give him the best score possible, but don't pay attention to the special rules of the Dish universe, you'll inadvertently give him the worst score possible.  The poor guy!  To solve this problem, why not have the ratings go from 1 to 5?  Or even 1 to 9?  Or 1 to any number but 10?  And in the meantime, where can I find a survey for my (dis-)satisfaction about the design of this survey?

Simple Stuff: The joys of a 10-foot USB cable...

It's easy to obsess over the fast pace of quickly-improving gadgets, but sometimes it's the simple things that can provide a real benefit in usability.  Gizmodo editor Casey Chan recently penned a love letter to the life-changing freedom of a 10-foot USB cable.  As he put it: "It allows you to charge your phone while you dance around the room. It allows you to never worry about accidentally prying the outlet open because you have a lot more slack. You can do anything you want because the leash is longer. You have a lot more freedom. Trust me, it's 5 bucks. It's totally worth your money."  So, why doesn't everyone jump on the long-leash bandwagon?  Because these cables are a commodity; nobody makes money on them, nobody thinks they're the hot new thing, nobody cares - except the user.  Good thing Gizmodo (ahem, and Unpressable Buttons) are here to help!

Tall Bookshelf Packs Its Own Ladder

There's an attractive efficiency to problems that pack their own solutions - like soup cans that come with pop-tabs instead of requiring a can opener.  Here's one that fits nicely in that category: the Higher Ground bookshelf by Karen King, available on Ideacious, which secretly stashes its own ladder to access the upper shelves.  It's hidden so well that you'd never notice it - but even when it's pulled out for use, it looks good and seems to work well.  That's a win-win!
[via Gizmodo]

XKCD's Ideal Fridge

I'm a big fan of Randall Munroe's web comic XKCD - big ideas, geeky references, laugh-out-loud humor, and (perfectly) shoddy illustration.  I've even covered them here before - twice!  Anyway, here's his latest funny-but-plausible concept: a refrigerator which uses conveyor belts to move groceries along their expiration timeline, and eventually into a "BAD" bin.  Typical of his attention to technical details, he's thought this out pretty well:  the shelves are organized into different spans of time; the door conveyor belt has a functional but space-efficient ramp to dump its expired goods into the same bin as the main shelves; heck, the "BAD" bin even has a handle so it can be removed and emptied over a trash can.  We're gradually outsourcing our logistical brainwork to our various devices these days, and this fridge fits right in with that trend.  Well done, Mr Munroe - next stop, Kickstarter...?

Real Buttons for Touchscreens!

I've always had mixed feelings about touchscreen buttons: they're infinitely versatile, allowing buttons to appear, disappear, and change for each specific situation.  But the cost is that we abandon one of our five senses, as touch becomes useless to guide our fingers or feel the tactile force and click of the button.  Tactus Technology wants to bring that sense back to touchscreens, with an overlay that allows buttons to physically morph up out of the display on demand.  This is different from other haptic technologies, which use electrical or vibration feedback to simulate the feel of a button click - unlike those, this allows the buttons to be located with the sense of touch before being pressed.  In fact, this seems pretty close to the ideal improvement that could be made to touchscreens.  The only question is how well Tactus can make it work!

[via Core77]

Whaletale, the Portable Playspace

I'm not a parent yet (though I will be in a few months!), so I'm not quite qualified to say how realistically practical this design truly is - but design student Daye Kim's Core77-Award-winning Whaletale is certainly inspirational.  A soft and sanitary playspace folds out from the jetsetter-parent's rolling suitcase to create a private island in a bustling airport.  Even the sitting suitcase seems to provide some kind of barrier or backstop against the rest of the world, and the form makes it feel as if some piece of home is literally flowing from the luggage.  I know, that language is much more emotional/designery than my usual practical analysis - but for kids, shouldn't everything be a little bit magical?