Personal Blog

It's no secret that the Baby Boomers have hit middle age and all of the little infirmities that go with it. There used to be "middle aged spread" but now we have "relaxed fit" clothing. Laser surgery can eliminate the need for bifocals. But, there's still chronic low back pain. One of the worst irritants is doing laundry. For all those folks who can't afford to pay for someone else to do it, why not offer a laundry hamper with a spring loaded bottom? Like the book-restocking carts in the library, the bottom should raise as items are lifted from the hamper. And, voila!, no more bending over.

I just came back from a trip to Southeast Asia. One of the interesting things I saw were HANNspree televisions. Finally, a company that sees the opportunity for design beyond the square box! My favorite is a television as the cargo hold of a 16-wheeler, but there's also the helicopter, fire truck, floor-standing rabbit, and a host of stuffed animals. For the slightly more mature, there are golf, basketball, soccer, and team logo tv's. To see them, go to http://www.hannspree.com and click on "Collections."

I was working at IBM when it sold its first PC. At the time, I loved the technology but hated the design. There really was no comfortable way to place the keyboard, your paper, and your monitor. More than 20 years later, I am repeatedly struck by the irony that the solution was not to improve the design of the PC but to introduce an entirely new category of furniture.

I've always thought that the best design for a PC would be closer to that of a piano. Imagine a monitor that sits at the angle of a music stand, with space on the table or desk in front of it for paper or a book to lay flat, and keyboard that is hangs over the edge of a table or desk on a mechanism that's a little like a pair of legs and feet.

Here are the structural changes I'd most like to see in the construction of the next laptop I buy:

* Rubber Casing

Instead of making me buy purse, briefcase, and suitcase with protective laptop pockets, why not just give me a laptop that can take mild abuse? I'd like to see a laptop encased in rubber, neoprene, or something else that would solve the problem.

* Flexibility

One big difference between paper files and my laptop (that the laptop was supposed to replace) is that the files flex when I jam them into a bag. I've been thinking about what it would take to have some hinges in a motherboard.

* Guts behind the Screen

Everyone's written about the heat radiating from the underside of laptops. Since design and use are predicated on the theory that the portion of the box with the keyboard will sit on a solid surface (desk, lap, etc.), why put the heat generation there and then try to figure out how to disperse it? Why not put the heat behind the screen, the portion with the largest surface area exposed to the air? I know it would present some weight-balance challenges, but it would be worth it!

I spend a lot of time in airports. Here's my list of airport-security-friendly products I think would sell:

· Clear plastic clogs

Maybe we wouldn't have to take off our shoes if airport screeners could see through them?

· Make-up Kiosks at Baggage Claim

Some cosmetics do not travel successfully in checked luggage. Maybe someone could sell miniatures of most popular products while we're waiting for the baggage?

Our third stop was Kunming, in Yunnan Province, southwest China.  Closer to the Tibetan border than to Beijing or Shanghai, it wasn't really the rural environment I had imagined it would be – the metro area has about 2 million people.  The city is more cosmopolitan than one would expect for a variety of reasons. Known as the “city of eternal spring” it was the location of the Empress Dowager’s Summer Palace.  In the early 1900’s, it was a city to which many political “undesirables” were banished.  It was the base for the US’ Flying Tigers for nearly a decade during World War II.  And, it is now home to eleven colleges and universities. 

Compared with Beijing and Shanghai, though, there were some seams showing.  A question about the cost of hiring a programmer prompted a vocal debate between a government official and a local businessman.  The “five star” hotel did not have the same customer service we experienced in the first two cities.  There were exchanges with hotel staff that, due to cultural or language differences, could have been straight out of Monty Python.  In one, a hotel clerk insisted that I needed to talk to the concierge, pointed me around the corner of the check-in counter, and then turned to face me as the concierge when I had walked there.  In another, the business office attendant who was arranging to ship things, repeatedly handed back select items, announcing “You can carry this.” 

On the other hand, their impression of the US has its seams too.  Yunnan University business school faculty members often come to MIT for training, so there’s a close relationship there.  We were greeted very warmly at the school with a large banner, a reception, a group photo, and gifts.  When we came back to town on Sunday (read about the weekend soon), a number of us went out with a number of the MBA students.  It was an invigorating evening of conversation, in which it turned out that they had very similar business ideas to ours.  But, it turns out that they get “Sex in the City” and I had to explain that women lawyers in New York (which I had been) did not generally live, dress, or behave like the women on the show!