Brain Pickings

PICKED: IDEO Reimagines the Music Player

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After reimagining the book, design innovation powerhouse IDEO is after the music player. c60 is an RFID-based interface that reintroduces physicality to music, something lost with digitization and the move to the cloud.

The idea here was to find a physical representation of the elements of modern musical life that we’ve come to love (such as playlists and shuffle), but not give up on the retro mixtape, twelve-inch vinyl player physicality.” ~ Martin Boone & Kara Johnson in I Miss My Pencil

c60 was inspired by the excellent book I Miss My Pencil, in which authors Martin Boone and Kara Johnson showcase 12 ingenious design experiments by IDEO designers, from a doorbell that uses smell instead of sound to a watch that tells time more slowly on weekends. Rather than mere conceptual curiosity, the experiments are brought to life through real collaboration, sketching, prototyping and fabrication. More about the project here.

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