Less, but better

Great design is long-lasting. - taken from Dieter Rams' ten principles for good design. This particular principle is especially true for Rams' perhaps most seminal design, the record player Braun SK 4 that's commonly know as 'Schneewittchensarg' (Snow White's Coffin) in Germany: While the product itself is more than obsolete the ideas and concepts behind this design can still be seen in many modern day devices. This is especially true for most of Apple's designs, which draw heavily upon Rams' work. Read more

Why Hyperloop’s awesome and still the wrong idea

On 12 August 2013 Elon Musk published his much anticipated Hyperloop idea. Given his track record, Musk's 'Tony Stark'-like image and claims that Hyperloop would be a 'fifth mode of transportation' that 'could revolutionize travel' people got excited about what his exact vision might be. So, now we know: Hyperloop basically is an elevated tube through which transport capsules move. The tube's partially evacuated to reduce friction, hence allowing for much greater speed (almost approaching the speed of sound) at much lower ... Read more

Great Rock Singers: Floor Janssen

Continuing my little series on rock singers next up is Dutch singer Floor Janssen, formerly with After Forever, now being lead singer for both Nightwish and ReVamp, as well as having appeared on various Ayreon and Star One albums. Floor's a classically trained singer but very apt at singing other styles, too: While the interview is quite interesting, too, you might want to skip to 3:23 for the actual music in the last video. Read more