The World Wide Web is only 5′000 days old -
and what the next 5′000 days will bring us.

The keypoints from Kevin Kelly’s talk at the 2007 EG conference:

"The internet is less than 5′000 days old."

"We thought the internet was going to be TV - but better. And it turns out that’s not what it was."

"Something like Wikipedia is something that was simply impossible. It’s impossible in theory, but possible in practice."

"The first lesson of the web: We have to get better in believing the impossible."

"The internet is basically a single global machine."

"The internet uses 5% of global electricity."

"The web works similar as our brains work - however our brains are not doubling in power every 2 years…"

"First computers were linked. Then in the 2nd stage, pages were linked. In the 3rd stage, data will be linked, from one idea on a page to another idea."

"If you wanna have total personalisation, you have to be totally tranparent."

"When 6 billion people are googleing, who’s searching whom?"

"We are the web."

"The next 5′000 days is not gonna be the web and only better - it’s gonna be something different."

"It’s gonna be more like a large organism that we are going to be interacting with. There’s a unity that’s starting to emerge. It’s a ONE."

Kevin Kelly Born in 1952, Kevin Kelly is the founding executive editor of Wired magazine, and a former publisher and editor of the Whole Earth Catalog. He has also been a photographer, writer and conservationist. Kelly is an expert in digital culture.

Explore more of his fascinating concepts on his site:
Kk.org

 

Chair by QED Design: 'Headstand' Michael Neubauer and Alexander J. Rybol from qed Design created this cool dynamic skipjack stool.

The stool headstand is based upon the principal of a skipjack and offers dynamic seating. Headstand turns the common ludo-pawn upside down in a surprising manner due to a unusual balance point.

Michael Neubauer mapped out the design philosophy ‘qed’ in 2006, which is the guideline for the creative process and the output. This was the basis for the foundation of the q.e.d. Design GmbH in 2008. Since then qed Design established itself in the scene with own products and projects.

The quite interesting philosophy of qed is hidden in the firm’s name which is a shortcut for:

Quite Easily Done
Simple things are usually easier to explain and understand than complicated ones. Simplicity is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.

Question Every Detail
Scratching the surface only leads to slight changes. Basic changes are made by taking a closer look under the surface.

Quod Erat Demonstrandum
The translation of the Latin phrase means, "that which was to be demonstrated". To make things possible you always have to try the impossible.

More of their furniture can be found on:
Qed-design.de


 

Michel Bussien's growing tree chair. Swiss Designer Michel Bussien created this innovative growing tree chair.

The ‘Growing Chair’ consists basically of trees and plants which grow in a chair-shaped miniature greenhouse.

Sit on your favorite tree and think about how ‘eco’ you are… You can see it growing like it’s an ant-farm! Potted and on rollers here, but if you plant it with the right elements in nature, remove the box and the plant is treeish!

Bussien wants us literally to get back to our roots.  In his manifesto below, he explores the greener side of future design.

Michel Bussien has this to say about nature and the necessary change in creating modern design:

Nature Manifesto

Having evolved from nature, we have gradually differentiated ourselves from it. Modern society has come to build itself on the perception that nature and man are separated. This differentiation has come to inhibit us and our way of creating. We have now reached the point when the way forward is going back.

We have to accept that we and everything we create are part of nature. This mindset is essential for evolution as a whole. When applying this to our way of thinking we will liberate ourselves from stagnated conventions.

To move further we need to incorporate the living matter that surrounds us. Let us use the complexity of living nature and include it in our creations. These creations will then redefine the way we reconstruct nature. Only then will we truly move forward.

It is time for man and nature to reunite.

(Michel Bussien)

 

Growing tree chair by designer Michel Bussien.

Yankodesign.com - natural tree chair michel bussien


 

iPhone vs. Stone... The iPhone 3G has serious limitations if you compare it to a simple stone…

Neither the iPhone nor the stone can handle MMS messages. No video for both. You can’t expand memory, neither on the stone nor on the phone.

Conclusion of the Brasil newspaper: The iPhone 3G is only hardly better than a stone, as it has a touchscreen - the stone not…

(Pic: Diario do Nordeste)

 

ORB bracelet watch concept by Djordje Zivanovic.

The ORB is a classic plastic bracelet, which shows the current time by incorporating lines inside that show the current time.

These lines are rotating around the watch and show the time, while the seconds line is going around all the time. The 1st line for hours, the 2nd for minutes and 3rd for seconds. Three different colors for every lines are being used.

A simple but cool and eye catching concept!

ORB bracelet watch concept by Djordje Zivanovic

ORB bracelet watch concept by Djordje Zivanovic

The ORB could be made in two colors, black and white, with different colors for the time lines. The clock can be adjusted via the touchscreen: Touch the line, click the adjust icon and slide the current time line to set time.

ORB bracelet watch concept by Djordje Zivanovic

Djordje Zivanovic lives in Torino, Italy and works in industrial design, product and furniture design. The ORB bracelet watch was a project for Signity International Watch Design Competition.

Behance.net - ORB bracelet watch concept


 

Hightech tie: Solar powered necktie by Iowa State University (ISU)Iowa State University (ISU) invented this solar powered tie which charges your mobile phone.

Clothing which integrates solar power have been around for some time. This solar powered necktie is however an especially cool integration of form and function.

There doesn’t seem like any immediate plans for mass marketing of a similar tie gadget, it still is a truly great way for office workers to keep their gadgets up and charged.

This solar-powered tie was created by researchers at Iowa State University (ISU) during experiments with photovoltaic textiles to create ’smart garments’.

Iowa State University researchers have earlier also created a jacket with thin film photovoltaic modules.

Hightech tie: Solar powered tie (Phone in elastic pocket where phone is charged while tie is worn.)The necktie contains a hidden carry pouch for storing your mobile phone away while the tie charges it up with the power of the sun.

What are ’smart garments’?
The production of smart garments has been made possible by the creation of a new generation of smart fabrics and similar technologies. Smart fabrics are capable of sensing and even reacting to changes in their environments.

Smart fabric clothing is able to repel dirt, stains and odors; it’s even capable of ’self-cleaning’ with just a cup full of water. There are smart fabrics who act as chemical and biological protective clothing by neutralising and detoxifying harmful agents.

Clothing will be used to regulate body temperature: It will measure your body temperature, and cool you down when you get to warm, or heat you  when you cool down. With other clothing, like this solar powered tie, you’re able to plug in and charge your mobile gadgets.

Tx.ncsu.edu/jtatm/solar powered tie


 

Friday,
29. August 2008

Designer Luigi Colani’s futuristic Space Truck.

Space Truck by Colani.

This so called ‘Space Truck’ by famous German industry-design star Luigi Colani uses 30% less fuel than comparable trucks.
And looks way better!

The online newspaper News.ch, with their column ‘Green Investment’, has enabled to present this vehicle to a wider audience in Switzerland. The truck is currently touring through various Swiss cities such as Lucerne, Berne and Basle.  With the support of climate projects such as myclimate, SuisseEMEX and Green Village, the Mercedes Benz Actros truck will drive CO2-neutral.

The Space Truck is supposed to be presented to a wider public in seven years at the World Expo 2015.

Luigi Colani: Space Truck.

Colani develops streamlined trucks since the fifties. His goal: Saving fuel consumption through a flowing streamlined shape of the vehicles. The German controlling agency TÜV verified in 2005 that Colani’s truck uses 30% less fuel than a conventional truck. With its aeronautic curvatures, the Space Truck follows Colani’s main design characteristics: the rounded, organic forms, which he terms "biodynamic" and claims are ergonomically superior to traditional designs.

The earth is round, all the heavenly bodies are round; they all move on round or elliptical orbits.
This same image of circular globe-shaped mini worlds orbiting around each other follows us right down to the microcosmos.

We are even aroused by round forms in species propagation related eroticism. Why should I join the straying mass who want to make everything angular? I am going to pursue Galileo Galilei’s philosophy:
My world is also round.

(Luigi Colani)

Colani.de
Photo: Vadian.net - luigi colani space truck