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November 15, 2007
Consumer Electronic Show awards - and not green
Business Week has this story on this weeks' announcement of the Consumer Electronics Show innovation awards - CES Awards: A Push to Innovate:
This year, the judges lauded pared-down designs which focused on blending functionality with panache. The Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin iPod dock, for instance, is an audacious form which still promises high quality sound projection. The Drop cellphone handset, by fuseproject, is an exercise in radical chic, with a form based on the shape of a water drop.
Of more concern to eco-watchers was this year's apparent lack of focus on issues of sustainability. Last year's awards were clearly green-themed, with winners including Herman Miller's (MLHR) eco-aware, LED-clad Leaf lamp and Intel's (INTC) energy-efficient Core 2 Duo processor. Despite the judges' insistence that green criteria make up an important part of the judging process, the lack of a statement could signal the environmental train is running out of steam.
Either that, or the designers are still struggling between cool design (panache) and functionality (as characterized by eco-sustainability). Or maybe it is a continuation of the clash between performance and eco-sustainability.
In any event, designers need to move beyond this either or. Designs shouldn't win because they are eco-sustainable. Eco-sustainability should be an integral part of all designs. Eco-sustainability should be a threshold criterion - not something that you give bonus points for.
Posted by Ken Jarboe at November 15, 2007 9:34 AM
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