A nostalgic look at the prime or earliest examples of truly revolutionary gadgets. Keep sending us tips, and vote for the ones that impacted you most.
A new Oobject chart almost every day, below are the most recent
iPods, Nikons, vibrators, Hummers someone has released a really crass gold plated gadget for the arms dealer market. Gizmodo suggested the gold plated shuffle “signaled the downfall of civilization”, vote according to which item you think is the most revolting.
Nothing limits the design of interfaces like the QUERTY keyboard, however, that doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t try.<p /><p />Our personal favorite here is the Ergodex panel which can be configured to mimic the cockpit controls of many aircraft, including an F16.
Tokyo flash became famous for selling amazingly abstract watches which told the time in any way imaginable from Morse Code to a video game display.<p /><p />Here are some of their classics along with any other amazing Japanese watches that we find.<p />
The Segway took the idea of the two wheeled vehicle and made it require thousands of dollars of electronics to remain as stable as an ordinary two wheeled bicycle. The Apple Newton was a personal organizer that required a personal assistant to carry it around for you.<p /><p />The common thread in the choices here is people mistaking sophisticated engineering for sophisticated design. Many were and still are technical triumphs.<p /><p />The Space Shuttle, for example, still bathes in the reflected glory of the Apollo missions, yet its design was largely a mistake based upon the PR potential of a plane-like craft, rather than practicality. Its replacement will look much more like a Saturn 5 rocket and it forms part of the hardware for what Nasa refer to internally as the ‘crude missions’.<p /><p />Below is our chart of the biggest all time tech. failures. Vote for the biggest loser or suggest some alternatives in the comments.<p />
Resqtec make instruments that prise open cars after a crash or find people in the rubble of buildings after an earthquake. What’s amazing about this equipment, however, is quite how beautifully designed it is.
