Ode to M.E.
It is a perplexing thing that semiconductor technology requires so mucn investment and innovation, but it is a simple mechanical design that makes one product more useful or attractive to the consumer than another. Think about the swivel disk USB drives, or stiletto type where the connector is pushed out of a sleeve. Convenience is something that is not about the technology node or wafer size but whether your flash drive has a cover you can’t lose.
This confuses the semiconductor analyst and many of the engineers who cram features into smart phones but find little interest outside of the tech community. It’s a problem with a long history amongst techies and geeks. The products we often drool over seem to find little broad-based market appeal. I think it’s high time to tip our hats to the mechanical engineers and designers out there. These are the people that design fantastic plastic cases and switches that not only house the insane feature sets going into consumer products but sometimes even stay working well into the devices’ obsolescence.
Getting back to the USB drive for a second, I shudder to think what ancient technology my 256MB drive (received free at a conference) is built with. But it stores much more than I need to quickly transfer files between work and home. (I hope my manager is reading this!) But what I might appreciate are the really tangible things. How it feels in my hand or how attractive it is could influence future purchases.
That look and feel is the result of the industrial designers and mechanical engineers. Consider the Sandisk Cruzer Contour drive. It even comes with an atractive faux leather carrying case. But it’s the hideaway USB connector that is the killer technology.
But innovation of design doesn’t require quite so much flash (excuse that pun). Even the Memorex Traveldrive has a cap that stays with the unit so you can’t lose it. I wonder now if there are any retractable pen patents still alive.
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