More Upcycling - iPod packaging becomes speaker...
One of the most popular posts on this blog has been on "upcycling" - designs which reuse components in more valuable and sophisticated ways, rather than "downcycling" into progressively lower-quality uses on the way to the landfill. Well, here's another one! Through Gizmodo, this nifty little kit transforms the packaging for an iPod Nano into a teensy speaker set for the iPod. The idea is neat; the reality is a little more sobering. Who will actually use speakers of this quality (tiny speakers can't reach any bass) and low power (they're unpowered, so it'll be a whisper at best), other than to show off how eco-savvy they are? Ironically, once the novelty is over, the packaging and the speakers will end up in the landfill - a greater hit to ol' Mother Earth than if the packaging had been tossed in the first place. Just because an idea is buzzworthy and inspiring doesn't mean it's ready to follow through on its promise!
5 comments:
Based on some recent research we did in this category, I'd suggest that a lot of people would indeed use these speakers, even with all the caveats you identify.
Steve, very interesting, and I must say I'm surprised to hear that people would use this type of speaker! Where, when, and how do you find that they'd use them - at home, at work, on the go? I'm curious...
Dave - my point is a bit more general; that people aren't as concerned with audio quality as designers/engineers/marketers might expect (or hope)
Ah yes, you're definitely right in that respect. However, I wonder if that tolerance for poor audio quality extends all the way down to these unpowered and essentially non-stereo speakers built on a platform not even intended to be an audio platform? Then again, cell phone speakers sound pretty crappy, and people still love their ringtones...
We heard anecdotes about people putting earbuds in Dixie cups in order to get 'em to project a bit. It's obviously a different behavior to spontaneously mess around to try and share some audio versus choosing a product that performs at about that level.
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