Design Issues... in China

I've always been impressed with the concept of design. So many products I see and use are really poorly designed, from my perspective. Even the Apple Video iPod, which I love dearly, really doesn't make the grade in my book, due to several flaws I've identified. Yes, the iTunes software really syncs nicely with the device, but I consider it moderately hard to work with, especially for podcasts, which is the main reason I bought the device in the first place. I've noticed... and others have as well... that Apple has some strange system for randomizing the playback of podcasts, such that it is common to get a steady flow of podcasts from the same source, when what I really want is truly random play. I tolerate this annoyance because... well, there really isn't anything better on the market, is there (can you say "Zune"?).

I just listened to a great podcast about the general topic of design by a real master... Gordon Bruce! He talks about the history of design, discusses his recent book about "Eliot Noyes", and chats at length about how design applies in China.

Gordon Bruce is an industrial design consultant who worked for Eliot Noyes from the late sixties until Noyes' death in 1977. He lectures internationally on design and is a regular guest judge and critic for schools and competitions. He has served as advisor to the International Industrial Design Conference of Aspen and was Chairman of the Product Design Department of the Innovative Design Lab of Samsung. His own designs and writings have appeared in numerous magazines including AXIS, Scientific American, Domus, ID and Time. He lives in Connecticut.

You can't miss this podcast!