I finally met the lovely and vivacious Niti Bhan at the ID Design Strategy conference. She gave me one of her hilarious business cards and I discovered she has a blog, check it out.
Author: Victor
Stephen Johnson & flow
Stephen Johnson’s new book, Everything Bad is Good for You is getting warm reviews, particularly from Malcolm Gladwell in the New Yorker. Listening to him tonight, I particularly liked his comparison of video game levels to the concept of flow (though he didn’t use that term). Games progressively get harder, so we’re always challenged just beyond the point of our abilities, a brilliant way to structure an educational experience.
Green tipping point: competition
Even my tiny Manhattan food market now sports two different brands of recycled paper products.
Green tipping point: organic foods
Annie’s has grown from one product (organic macaroni and cheese) to 80, fueling a $34 million company. The Organic Trade Association estimates the $12.25 billion organic food market will double by 2008, assuming an 18.4% annual growth rate (WSJ, March 29, 2005). With a $20 million investment from Solera Capital, Annie’s (and others on the same growth curve) can expand exponentially.
Green tipping point: national tv
A recent edition of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition focused on the use of sustainable building products, hybrid cars, and efficient appliances.
Green tipping point: product cool
Nike’s Considered line eliminates waste & toxics, uses less energy to produce, and reduces waste at the end of the product’s life.
Green tipping point: celebrity cool
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – February 18, 2005 – Joining the ranks of celebrities choosing to bring an environmental conscience to the Oscars, Leonardo DiCaprio, Charlize Theron, Robin Williams, Orlando Bloom, Salma Hayek, Penelope Cruz, Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins are among those arriving at the 2005 Academy Awards in high-mileage, low emission, Prius hybrids as part of Global Green’s 3rd annual “Red Carpet—Green Stars†campaign.
Green tipping point: business green
GE pledges to invest billions in being green:
“Ecomagination is GE’s commitment to address challenges such as the need for cleaner, more efficient sources of energy, reduced emissions and abundant sources of clean water,” Immelt said. “And we plan to make money doing it. Increasingly for business, ‘green’ is green.”
Mad Hot Ballroom
NYC school kids learn ballroom dancing, wonderful.
Google buys Dodgeball (yay!)
Google has acquired Dodgeball, a neato mobile social networking app. It was co-founded and developed by my friend and former mentee Alex, so I’m thrilled for him. Congratulations Alex!
Aromatherapy tipping point
I knew scented candles are incredibly popular because I have trouble finding the unscented variety, but it turns out scented pencils are also quite popular, based on some sales data I’ve seen.
I wonder if the flower trade is worried?
Manufacturing crisis
Innovation sometimes springs from crisis: a company sees a dire threat and takes drastic steps to recover. But what if one person perceives this threat before it becomes obvious to the organization? Can this person manufacturer crisis to initiate change?
It seems that’s what Thomas Friedman is doing with his book The World is Flat, changing the conversation about offshoring to one about fixing our national innovation capabilities…
And it is our ability to constantly innovate new products, services and companies that has been the source of America’s horn of plenty and steadily widening middle class for the last two centuries. This quiet crisis is a product of three gaps now plaguing American society. The first is an ”ambition gap.” Compared with the young, energetic Indians and Chinese, too many Americans have gotten too lazy… Second, we have a serious numbers gap building. We are not producing enough engineers and scientists… And finally we are developing an education gap. Here is the dirty little secret that no C.E.O. wants to tell you: they are not just outsourcing to save on salary. They are doing it because they can often get better-skilled and more productive people than their American workers.
Simplicity and discipline
“We are stuck with technology when what we really want is just stuff that works. How do you recognize something that is still technology? A good clue is if it comes with a manual.” — Douglas Adams
It’s ironic that making simple products is difficult, but it is. It requires discipline to design simple products, discipline to focus on real-world use and experience of a product rather than guesses about use, and discipline to market the real value versus the sheen of extra features.
John Maeda’s seventh law of simplicity expresses a similar idea with an interesting phrasing, suggesting that the simpler thing becomes cognitively more…
The more care, attention, and effort applied
to that which is less, the more it shall be perceived
as more than it really is.
User-centered automobile
This year’s Rinspeed concept car — the Senso — takes user-centered to the next level…
The “Senso”, which runs on environmentally friendly natural gas, has, not without reason, been labeled the most sensuous car in the world. The “Senso” actually “senses” the driver by measuring his (or her) biometric data, and then exerts a positive effect on him with the help of patterns, colors, music and fragrances. A person who is relaxed and wide-awake simply drives better and more safely.
Farm Style
WNYC’s Studio 360 on graffiti barns and beautiful orange tractors. Farmers like to be sexy too.