Hasta La Ideas

“Form Follows Function” is how you design a wrench, or a toboggan, or a kitchen mixer. But as we move into this increasingly dematerialized era, the keyboard and mouse are the only parts of our computers that seem to hew to this rule. For a little while the cables we used to plug into our computers at least had little plastic ridges on them, the barest concession that human fingers were meant to grasp them, but now even that’s been replaced by designer whimsy; in 2011, for instance, Parisian luxury brand Christofle designed this silver-plated USB key for LaCie that seemed like something out of a jewelry box.

The Christofle-LaCie team-up is at it again, this time with a hard drive seemingly designed by a gypsy (or Jeff Koons). The USB 3.0 Christofle Sphere is a one-terabyte number intended to sit on your desk and look purty, “hand-crafted and silvered in France” as it is.

Then again, maybe the reflective form does have a function, one more in step with our modern times: It’ll let you take a selfie at your desk without having to stretch your arm out and aim.

De rigueur, classic-instrument-scored “the majesty of craft” video after the jump.

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Want!

There are certain items that don’t lend themselves to being hung on hooks, like towels, scarves and winter hats; mine like to stay on the hook for the first 30 seconds, but later I’ll return to find them on the floor–which led to my dogs destroying my favorite rabbit-fur head-heater, which I purchased in Sweden. Sigh.

Ironically, the solution to this also comes from Sweden. Homeware manufacturer Linden Sweden sells the Clever Hook you see pictured above. It’s tough to understand how it works by looking at a still photo, so watch this short vid:

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The two friends of mine who were raised by germ-freak, super-clean parents are the two who get sick the most often. My theory is that their immune systems were hobbled by them not being allowed to play in filthy sandboxes as kids. And while I’m not one of those anti-vaccination nuts, I’m fine with encountering a certain amount of dirt; hell, I’d better be, as I live in New York City.

Where do you draw the line with personal cleanliness? A company called PhoneSoap claims that your phone is filthy, filthy, filthy, and suggests you buy their $50 ultraviolet phone cleaner/charger to regularly disinfect it. Their website claims, in alarmist tones, that your phone is dirtier than your toilet seat; I’ve got news for you, I bet most things in most peoples’ houses are dirtier than their toilet seats, because we clean toilets with harsh chemicals on a regular basis.

The hyperbole is laid on pretty thick, with the company citing Fox News to point out that “A cell phone has 18 times more bacteria than a public restroom” and claiming that “The way we use our phones makes us… sick” and then dropping this gem:

Not only are the extra bacteria on our phones bombarding our immune systems, they can also cause some serious facial effects. Some types of acne come directly from talking on the phone! Pressing your cheek and chin against your phone can exacerbate acne by allowing bacteria to get into those pores, causing chaos.

I’m not buying it. Are you?

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Those of you who’ve participated in Secret Santa gift circles know that the presents can be less than stellar. Anonymity coupled with a low percentage of creativity in the population can yield some boring tie clips, awful handmade tree ornaments and suspiciously dog-eared books.

It stands to reason, however, that the larger the Santa circle, the higher the chance that someone will receive a knockout gift. So it went with this year’s Reddit Gifts Secret Santa, which signed up a staggering 121,916 participants from 161 countries. Reddit user and graphic designer “sickgnasty” received an innocuous box from “crespokid,” and after photographically documenting an unboxing like any you’ve seen before, posted the results, which swiftly went viral.

The initial opening didn’t appear too auspicious, yielding a mere stuffed shark.

However, the attendant card hinted at more:

His suspicious aroused, Sickgnasty then anaesthetized the shark (presumably in case it was still alive), and prepared to investigate.

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In 2010 we put out a call for entries seeking ID renderings of a cell phone airbag concept. Exactly zero of you responded (though six people left comments; most folks like to critique more than they like to do). In 2011 we discovered Apple had actually patented an airbag-like cell phone protection system. And this week, I became excited upon seeing links popping up to an airbag cell phone case supposedly developed by Honda.

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