For some reason, inventors in the first half of the 20th century thought that incorporating a slide rule into a mechanical pencil was a great idea. In reality, these combination devices were of dubious utility, gives their low precision as calculators… but they are certainly ingeniously designed. I describe three of them, including one extremely … Read more
Evolution has crafted some amazing design solutions to the problems of life, and I never have enough of their elegance. Take the crocodile’s heart. Crocodiles have a special bypass short circuiting blood flow to their lungs. Specifically, although they have the same four chambered heart configuration as us mammals, which pumps the blood first to … Read more
Here is a bit of outstandingly smart design I saw in Terminal Five at London Heathrow airport. To fully appreciate the ingenuity, you should know that there are two security inspection areas (you know, where they check your shoes and X-Ray your hand luggage): Security North and Security South. Both serve the same function, and … Read more
My father, God rest his soul, was a young physics student when Israel’s war of independence broke out, and he was among the defenders of the Jewish Quarter in Jerusalem’s Old City. When the quarter fell to the superior forces of the Jordanian Legion, he was taken prisoner and spent 9 months in a POW … Read more
When I was QA manager in an Intel fabrication plant I had this Honda Acura ad copy stuck to my cubicle partition: To fully appreciate the precision that goes into our 24-valve, 2.7 liter, 161-horsepower engine, touch the ashtray. And indeed, a quality product – be it a car or a flashlight – reflects its … Read more
So here is a wonderfully useful tool from Shachihata: the Artline 710 Long Nib Marker. What’s the big deal, you ask? Not if you’re a handyman, you don’t! This funky looking tool is designed to fill a very specific need: marking through deep holes, as when you have to drill holes in the wall to … Read more
Here we have two glove compartments. The one on the left is from the Renault Clio; the other from a Mazda 3. They serve the same simple function and – not surprisingly – look pretty much the same, if you ignore the nice touch in the Mazda’s, that places the latch closer to the driver. … Read more
Here is an item I saw on the wonderful Nostalgia Online site. They have a large collection of vintage kitchen utensils, most of which I do recall from my childhood, and many of which I run into as I rummage in flea markets in search of computing history items. However, this one I’ve never seen … Read more
Unusual business cards are not rare; many companies and individuals try to deviate from the traditional white rectangle design in the hope of standing out from the crowd. But today I was handed a card that goes far beyond this. Here it is: This card has a rotating wheel that allows different short phrases to … Read more
One seldom gives much thought to the humble sugar packet seen in coffee shops (unless one is a sucrologist, at any rate) but there’s an interesting observation related to its design. A few years ago the age-old form factor of these packets – a rectangle some 7 by 5 cm in size – was supplemented … Read more
