Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Why you will probably be driving an electrc car soon...

One of the new, battery swappable EVs from Better Place

Electric cars have been around a while. You've probably seen a few plugged in on your college campus, you've probably driven a golf cart. Maybe your friend who is too smug to own a Prius has one. But there have long been obstacles in making these cars even close to desirable to own. That's all about to change.

Electric cars are finally fun to drive. Check out the Tesla Roadster, which I'm sure you've heard of if you follow the issue at all. The waiting period to grab one of these is enormous, but the point is, Tesla has brought the power and excitement to the electric car. Don't believe me? Check out the boys at Top Gear review it here.

At the end of the video, Clarkson mentions the biggest concern for the electric car- battery life and charge time. When you kill the battery for an electric car it can take 16 hours to recharge. Not a problem if you're just commuting, but totally eliminating road trips longer than a single charge can get you. Until now.

Shai Agassi, an Israeli entrepreneur has stumbled upon the greatest idea yet. Instead of having car recharging stations, why not have fully charged battery stations, and hot swap the lithium-ion battery out for a fully charged one? Common sense dictates that this action could take even less time than filling up your tank. Check out more about this simple, yet important change in strategy at his company's website.

So, all that coupled with more companies produce pure electrics that don't look like remote control vehicles, (See old Honda Insight vs. the New One) means we've really run out of reasons to not go electric. Mr. Agassi sees a wide infrastructure of these battery stations within 10 years, so your next car, believe it or not, may take no gas at all.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

How to get an Industrial Design Job: my Whirlwind Tour of SF


As some of you may have heard I ventured to the Coroflot Confab in loverly San Francisco last Wednesday to see what I could see, get myself out there, so to speak. I had an uneventful flight, thanks to some Nyquil, got a free hotel upgrade and had my business cards shipped straight to the hotel. The whole thing was a complete success. Almost. (More on that later.)

I made a cool business connection with a programmer from un upstart known as Farm'sReach, and that was just on the cab ride from the airport. The conference itself was really helpful- the morning session regarding how to improve your web presence and get hired was very eye-opening. Some pointers for those of you who didn't attend: get your self on a wide range of sites, and get them all to link to your main portfolio page. Broad, thin range of sites, one single, in-depth site.

Then the panel discussion, which had IDEO and Google represented, revealed some interesting truths about getting hired in the design industry. Are you ready?

1. Be ready to wait TWO YEARS. Sometimes, even after initial contact, in an industry that considers its hires to be TALENT, not just an employee, the scout might watch you for two years to see how you are progressing as a designer to make you an offer. Although, sometimes its as little as a month.

2. Give a sense of who you are in your potfolio, or how you show your work. Since design is so collaborative, they sincerely care about what kind of person you will be to work with. Skills and programs can be taught. If you're not a decent, interesting, and effective person to work with, you probably will never be. (Time to undertake undertaking.)

3. Applying for jobs you are completely unqualified for is a GOOD THING! Believe it or not, in design, because the job description, usually written six months prior to the actual hire by someone in HR, is so different from the final job that you get hired for, you should go ahead and apply anyway. Its better the scouts know you're out there than have you sit on your hands.

Then after the discussion I got drunk at the reception, and proceeded to lose my new pack of 500 business cards on the streets of San Francisco. Well, I did give like 30 of them out. And I met some very cool design people, and exchanged some info over beers nearby!

Two days after my flight home the hotel calls me. Apparently, some good Samaritan found my business cards on the street and delivered them to the address on the box! They are due in the mail to me tomorrow.

Look for a homepage redesign @ www.MichaelWTaft.com with some help from my friend Jake Cohen.

Friday, October 23, 2009

New Droid Phone, is Everything the iPhone isn't. Like Ugly.

iDon't have a physical keyboard.

iDon't care.

Motorola's upcoming Droid has similar styling to the Motorola MicroTAC of 1989, or that its UI looks eerily familiar. I can't comment on the quality of it as a device, but from seeing it-

This appears to have very little character. A look at this and the keyboard, and it becomes clear that this phone, apparently one of the fastest ever made, will appeal to people who don't care what their phone looks like.

Now don't misunderstand, there is nothing wrong with caring about sheer functionality of a device, its just not enough to take Apple's share of the market. The Droid will most likely compete with the Palm Pre.

The most important point is not that one phone is better than the other, this is just like the Mac vs. PC debate- there are different types of people in the world, ergo there are different kinds of phones. SO STOP ARGUING.

This phone will appeal greatly to a certain sector. Probably everyone that bought a Voyager. Just not the iPhone users who, if you ask them, will tell you they don't miss a physical keyboard one bit. Who am I kidding, iPhone users will tell you about their phone whether you ask them or not.

iPhone Commits Suicide, Cites Constant Murder Threats.

In a surprise move, after getting beat up on the playground, teased for not having a physical keyboard or a decent digital camera, the iPhone took its own life yesterday because, as read in a note uploaded to its blog through its sweet wordpress app, "I cannot go on living like this."

Sources say those close to the cleanly designed handheld device were shocked to find out what had happened, especially with the huge popularity of the phone, and it's apparent resilience against phones that has tried to assassinate the phone before. "But this time was different," said Steve J., a friend and mentor to iPhone "people had really worn down his self esteem. I mean, have you seen what they write on those message boards?"

True, in just scanning one recent article in which he is mentioned, some libelous charletains have claimed "iPhone is totally gay." and "Whatever, the newest Nokia phones have like a bizillion gigapixel- camera or whatever. This phone sux at everything." People apparently unaware that there could be a phone that is good for some people and not good for others. Although, this doesn't seem likely to be the complete impetus for his death, as his supporters on there boards were usually just as numerous and stupid. "You f8ckers are fucing stpid. Stop hating and read a danmed history book!" wrote one concerned citizen.

More likely, pressure from the upcoming release of the Motorola Droid phone caused a great deal of new pressure, as the latest attempted iPhone killer presented himself publicly. "The Droid ad runs like a smear campaign. I mean, come on, all this guy wants to do is listen to the Ting Tings while snowboarding. Leave the little hipster shit alone!" said this guy I know.

With his ego bruised and new pressures to constantly be the best thing out there, iPhone ended it all yesterday by running a remote wipe on his own Mobile Me account. Which, let's be honest is a truly bitchin' feature.

He is survived by the iPod touch, which is just as good.