Yesterday we spoke of skill. Today we'll look at technology and its role in building products.
Can old technology ever be exciting? To make a great loudspeaker is it necessary to have a carbon fiber space age box or can designers get away with the tried and true?
Some will tell you technology has moved on. If companies don't stay up with the times then by default they are falling behind—their products not worthy of consideration.
I wonder how audio companies using vacuum tubes or producing turntables would answer that question?
Too often we assume new is better when tried and true is just fine.
What really seems to matter is the designer's ability to pick and choose the elements of design best suited for a specific purpose, even if those elements are from what seems like a lifetime of progress ago or cutting edge.
Technology provides us with some great new miracles but that doesn't mean we have to use them to succeed.
Sometimes the task at hand is best handled with the latest greatest. Other times what's worked in the past is actually as good as it gets for the circumstances at hand.
Give me a good old spoon to eat my cereal. It worked well when I was a boy and just as good now.
