Whatever. It's ugly.
I can put up with ugly if the ugliness makes it more usable, but I can't see that to be the case here. It's just ugly. Cheers, frank "What can be asserted without proof can be dismissed without proof." -- Christopher Hitchens --- Original Message --- From: steve harley <p...@paper-ape.com> Sent: February 2, 2012 2/2/12 To: "Pentax-Discuss Mail List" <pdml@pdml.net> Subject: K-01 and the problem of "design" i read the press release and watch the linked video interview <http://www.dpreview.com/news/2012/02/02/Pentax_K-01_announcement#press> alas the hype about visual aspects of the design and the reputation of the designer is front and center, a huge mistake in my view the interview with Mark Newson is helpful because as he handles the camera i got a better impression of it; the camera looks fairly usable within the constraints of "no viewfinder" and "not small" — those constraints are challenging and i wish more had been made of them; there is more sense of the handling in this video: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-lSQlvqFKs> however i was unimpressed with Newson's presentation; he didn't convince me of his sincerity and dedication to the project, and i heard no real purity of vision; i most respect designers whose foundation is philosophy and whose mandate is functionality, such as some architects & typographers; there's a thread of this purity i seek in some web design too; industrial design is rarely so pure, though i think Apple has achieved a remarkable standard in physical design; the K-01 (or as Newson says, kay-oh-one) is almost a statement about making statements; a neo-modernist design with some major compromises (rubber door?); if it shipped flat it might be an Ikea camera ... Newson is not an in-house designer, and for this (presumably) one-off project he probably had Pentax marketing breathing down his neck; he's used massive, simple forms, which are promising — if those blocky controls are as functional and durable as they signal, that will be something but these two quotes from the interview seem shallow to me, and make me suspicious of the whole project: "the inspiration behind this design ... is simply the desire to want to create something which, as a consumer, I myself would like to own, or would like to purchase" "I wanted to present an _image_ of quality, and of expertise" (emphasis mine) in the following statement, if he had said "innovation" instead of "individuality", i would have been more hopeful: "i think the consumers will be happy that we've given them a choice, because i don't see an enormous amount of _individuality_ in the marketplace" (emphasis mine) so that's my critique of the hype; i do also see some hope in the design, that it may put a counterpoint to the chorus of "smaller is better" -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
