Conservative consciousness has spread to product design and overall innovation
By Jeff Reinke, Editorial Director, PD&D
Desperate times call for desperate measures, or at least that’s what we keep hearing from the political and economic powers that are in our country. This has led to billions of dollars being infused into struggling economic and manufacturing institutions, as well as a more conservative overall thought process that can be seen dominating multiple aspects of every day life, and I’m not just talking about spending and investing trends. The bad news is that this conservative consciousness seems to have also spread to product design and overall innovation.
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Gone are the days of perfecting light sabers for slicing the thanksgiving turkey, or any other cutting, dicing or deforestation efforts for that matter. Rather, we’re left with technological focuses on things like micro-fuel cells and plug-in hybrid vehicles. Okay, I get it, we’ll save energy, reduce dependence on foreign oil, possibly create more jobs and maybe even salvage the current energy grid. To quote Bill Lumbergh from Office Space, “Yeah, that’ll be great”.
Sorry, but those types of developments are just not very exciting, and way too practical to generate any sincere enthusiasm or maintain the attention of the American majority. The bottom line is that solving problems and creating a better living environment makes sense, but that quickly becomes old and uninterested news to those of us raised on the notion of personal spacecraft and robotic personal assistants.
Sure, the headlines have been dominated by the need to green the automotive industry and develop power supplies that help save energy, but what if we took those dollars and made RoboCop a reality?
Okay, hopefully you’ve kept your fingers off the keyboard long enough to let me admit that sarcasm doesn’t always translate well to the written word. My real point is that one of the more positive elements we can extract from the current economic decline is that there has been greater attention paid to those technologies which can impact multiple levels of our society. It’s refreshing to see politicians and influencers discussing financial responsibility, new energy sources, as well as the related usage patterns, in greater context than campaign grandstanding.
It feels to me that there are sincere efforts underway to improve the operational dynamics of plug-in hybrid vehicles, and it’s impossible to review any news source without seeing some reference to the issues surrounding our national energy grid, or the work being done to correct it. The majority of these answers come from designing and integrating products that address macro issues on the micro level in positively affecting the simple things we do each day.
Right now the U.S. is an easy target for international criticism and scrutiny. Much of it is deserved, but it’s also re-assuring to know that we’re up to the task of improving our status on a number of levels. We live and operate in a market that is cyclical and self-recovering, rewarding decisions that generate positive results. With all the work being done in the areas of alternative energy, lithium-on batteries and other related initiatives, those positive results, and their economic benefits will come.
Then we can get back to developing that blue light saber I need for simultaneously grilling my cheese sandwich and heating my office – the efficiency gains continue.
What’s your take? Send comments to jeff.reinke@advantagemedia.com