From Left- compact white Apple Powerbook power supply, The Next Wave business card, Sony DSC-T1 camera and un-compact power supply.
Sony used to be the cool kid on the block- especially when it came to small things- remember the Walkman?
I’ve had this Sony DSC-T1 for over a year- and love it for it’s size and it’s picture quality- 5 megapixels in a tiny package.
But, when you take a look at the power supply, as I did when packing for a motorcycle trip- and realize that for all the elegance of the camera- the power supply was ignored by the design team.
Compare the Apple designed power supply for my Powerbook- the graceful cord management system that’s built in- the choice of two options for the wall plug- the short mount (shown) and a long power cord.
Design isn’t something you just do to the product- it’s the peripherals, the packaging the software interface- the complete package. If Sony wants to stay competitive- they need to look at the total design package.
I’d also make one other recommendation- the sliding lens cover/on/off switch, needs some sort of positive lock- so often, as I pull the camera out of the pocket- it’s slipped open. If I was buying another pocket camera- I’d probably look at something other than a Sony for this reason- as well as the bad power-supply design.
Too bad Apple didn’t construct their Magsafe connector the same way– though the Magsafe is really, really nice (and Lab-proof, or at least Lab-resistant), it doesn’t have the notch to wrap your cord.
Sony’s, however, is ridiculous.
I’ve been playing with my new MacBook Pro for a day now and already I’m asking myself – “what in the &*@@ was I doing screwing around with PC Windows for the last 10 years?”
Just loaded Aperture and will begin the tutorial DVD soon.
Apple clearly knows what they are doing when it comes to the use of consistent and well thought-out design, color and texture of both their products and their packaging.
Also, it was interesting to note how much of the text on my original website does not appear when I bring the site up on my Mac using Safari. Scary!
That is definitely on my top ten reasons to love Apple – their designers are exquisite.
Unfortunately many companies seem to believe in a different notion: If it is not in constant use/view, it doesn’t matter.