Archive | Technology RSS feed for this section

Imponderable #4: Tokyo Japan

7 Jul

July 7, 2011

Japan strikes again

I’ve covered the cyberhug before. And while not everyone agrees with me, I still say Japan is nuts. If there is a wacky computer product or bizarre sex video the odds are it comes from Japan. Whether it is a game based on urinating, an elderly porn star, or an electronic French kiss, it is clear that the Japanese have some issues to work through.

I don’t see the attraction of tongue kissing my computer. Of course I also get out of my house and interact with real people from time to time so I may not be in the target audience for this thing.

I also worry about the possibility of electrocution.

The researchers are working to replicate an individual’s taste, breathing, and tongue moisture, but since they want to create “celebrity” kissing apps, will they have to replicate each star’s specific bad breath and body odor? Could we one day have the ability to experience Robert De Niro’s tobacco breath in our mouth? Lindsey Lohan’s stink after a drunken binge? And popular and funny she may be, but would you want to tongue-kiss Betty White? Through a computer or not, there’s a limit.

And this being Japan, the potential for fetish is endless. I won’t get into it but in Japan you can buy used panties from a vending machine. ‘Nuff said.

I can only wonder about who comes up with this, but I wonder more about the volunteer who tests this.

Who is the person who is waiting for the day they can stick a straw in his mouth, kiss his computer, and pretend it is Ed Asner?

The question is Imponderable.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Your Child Can Be Sitting Pretty

6 Jul

July, 6, 2011

“Form follows function” is a principle associated with architecture and industrial design in the 20th century. The principle is that the shape of something should be primarily based upon its intended function or purpose.

Kitchen chairs follow that principle. Bean bag chairs do not. Which would you rather sit on at the dinner table?

I picked the chair example for a reason. About a month ago I wrote about a pretty bad toy, a briefcase for your child. (See “Birth of The Office Drone.”) One of my problems with that toy was the lack of imagination involved in playing with it. At that time I also came across this product. The following chair for your child may have the opposite problem, too much imagination went into its creation.

Following the principle of form following function, you’d expect the “Children’s Paper Chair” to be some sort of chair.

It is not.

No child could comfortably sit on that thing, especially if the child uses it a lot. The roll will get smaller and smaller and harder and harder to sit on, let alone use. It is a very awkward way of drawing. (I also might have to think about letting strangers look at my daughter while sitting in that position.)

Sitting the other way is no better, the child is cramped. And one dirty diaper or accident will ruin the whole roll.


It is a lousy, uncomfortable chair. It is a lousy, uncomfortable way of drawing. So what went into the thinking behind that product?

I suspect it was something along the lines of “Hey. We have all these rolls of paper lying around, what the heck are we going to do with them?”

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →