Minimization of technology

Has anyone seen the new iPod shuffle? Its tiny, almost to the point of not being there.
I know the saying goes ‘less is more’ but it seems like these days in the technology market the consumer is getting less while the producer is the one making more.

Does anyone else yearn for the days when technology was slightly more tangible and tactile? What happened to the idea of a more masculine rugged piece of technology or gadget. Sure small and sleek is sexy, but part of me wishes it was just a bit more substantial.

The cellphone industry is cronic in this respect, they are almost getting to the stage where phones are small to the point of impracticality. Im not exactly a 'sausage fingers' but I even struggle to cleanly hit the keys on some of the super small new phones.

Apparently bling is in at the moment, and from a bling point of view the 1980’s had it right. When you walked down the street with your suitcase sized cellphone people would know you are the man. Now our flash new tiny phones hide away in the depths of a pocket. People want to drive big flash cars, why not have a big flash phone?

Has any one else here had the pleasure of waking on a groggy morning up after a big night on the sauce, to find your phone is lost, or its in about four more peices than when you went out the night before?
I'll tell you for free that it would be a hell of a lot less likely to happen if the thing weighed the best part of 500 grams and had the structural integrity(and styling) of a brick...


The same sort of phenomena has occured in the personal audio market. Sure Ipods are pretty cool little gadgets, but there is something intrinsically cool about a boom box or a walkman that a dinky wee iPod just cant give you. Would Radio Raheem have been anywhere near as cool if he had been rocking an iPod instead of a boom box?

I feel it has almost reach a terminal point. The quest to minimize has had certain trade offs in the practicality, tactility, strength and toughness of many of the technological gadgets we buy.
If phones and mp3 players get any smaller, it could be to the detriment of the user. It could be argued that this has already happened.




Boom box= cool and tough grrrrrrr!