A look Into the iPad (Sounds like iPod but with a funky accent)

Yes, I know, I chose to talk about the latest product that Apple has come up with: the iPad (man that lowercase 'i' and uppercase 'P' really get annoying when typing). However, I'm not here to talk about how SWEET and AWESOME it is, but more to talk about how it seems like a funky size of an iPhone.

Let us first start by talking about Apple's really smart business plan (or will it be?). I am no Apple fanatic, so I immediately thought about the iPad like I do most sequels of great movies: pure crap and mere money makers (with the exception of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: Secret of the Ooze). However, when you think about the human interaction that will occur with this new product, you start to see that there will be practically no learning curve. As seen in the photo comparison below, people automatically know how to use the new device.
The mental model developed with the iPod or iPhone can be immediately applied to the iPad. Additionally, look at the mapping (the one button on the entire thing). People are extremely familiar with menu button located bottom-center, so there is no need to learn anything new.

Now let me move onto my skepticism. So the iPhone is approximately 3 times smaller in width than the iPad. This means that the ability to hold the iPad firmly in the palm of your hand is thrown out the window. Without the fancy cases and stands shown on their website, I feel like this product will not be as fun to use. Sure one of the features is the ability to play new, sweet games, but how far are you going to take that? You won't be playing those fun little mini-games like on the Wii because I doubt you'll want to shake your new $629-$829 merchandise like a Polaroid picture (shout out to Outkast, I know its corny, but you'll live). Plus, I don't know how well something of this shape is going to create a well suited form for us humans. Personally, I would hate touching the screen just by gripping it and getting it all smudgy. And, without the nifty case, are you really going to type on a perfectly flat surface (carpal tunnel?)?

To me, this product is a blown up iPhone that will look just right in Yao Ming's hand (check out the photo of him and his new bike below) and will be extremely popular purely because its an Apple product. However, don't think I won't be proven wrong. I know Apple has a pretty good track record as of late and can easily persuade skeptics just like me in the next few months.

A Look Into Designing New Balls: Fifa, Adidas VS. NBA, Spalding

The world's most popular event is among us: Fifa's World Cup 2010 in South Africa (Shout out to Dean!!). Taking place every four years, sponsoring companies rush at the opportunity to create new products. Come this summer, Adidas will be celebrating 40 years of doing just that. Since 1970 Adidas has tweaked the design of the modern day soccerball to deliver a new match ball.

Starting off with the traditional pentagon/hexagon panel ball in Telstar (Mexico, 1970), Adidas has now evolved to a revolutionary design that uses only 8 "3D Panels" in its Jabulani (South Africa, 2010). This new design was inspired by the design change made in the last official World Cup ball, the Teamgeist (Germany, 2006). This new technology allowed Adidas to develop a ball that is truly round due to the reduced number of seams which, consequently, resulted in a tremendous boost in quality and performance. By building off of this idea, Adidas has now created an even "more round" ball by reducing the panels from 14 to 8. Fewer panels means fewer seams which means "rounder" ball. This design has 2 different panels, the "3D Tripod Panel" and the "3D Triangle Panel". Four of each are molded together to create a perfectly round half-sphere. The other half is created the exact same way and then added together to complete the full sphere. Check out the full evolution of Adidas' products and actual manufacturing process here:

http://www.soccerballworld.com/Jabulani_2010.htm

According to this soccerballworld.com article, Adidas partnered with several professional soccer clubs in order to perform user testing. As of now, and like the reviews of the previous official match balls, players have reviewed the product quite positively.

Now let us shift to the world of our National Basketball Association. In the Summer of 2006, NBA Commissioner David Stern and official basketball supplier, Spalding, eagerly introduced a new and improved basketball. As shown on the right, the new design flaunted a new interlocking panel system that allowed 1/3 more material to be exposed. Additionally, the ball was developed using Spalding’s Cross Traxxion, a microfiber material with moisture control that allowed for a better grip. The NBA was also enthusiastic of this design because it eliminated the need of the "break in" period required by the traditional leather ball.

However, unlike Fifa and Adidas, the development of this product was never run by its professional users. Even though it was taken through laboratory and on court testing, NBA teams were given the new product only after it had been designed. So come summer training, David Stern and Spalding began to receive numerous complaints from players around the league. Gilbert Arenas, Shaquille O'Neal, and Steve Nash were among the players to voice their complaints. Among them were claims that the ball bounced in an unpredictable fashion and became slippery when wet (so much for that moisture control).

An interesting fact was highlighted by a 2006 article in the Washington Post. Apparently, "The players' union filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board on Dec. 1 because it was upset that the league switched to the new ball without consulting players." It's silly to think that millions of dollars were invested in making a new product that is supposedly designed to improve player's skills without consulting the players themselves!

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(Translate the title here: http://www.jayssite.com/stuff/l33t/l33t_translator.html)

For those of you who have played video games growing up, this will be somewhat entertaining. But for those of you who haven't, I hope that you can still enjoy this post, anyway. I've decided to talk specifically about video game controllers and their evolution over the past few generations of consoles.

Nintendo, as we all know, has been the one consistent video game company throughout our lifetime. Playstation and Xbox consoles have only been around for about 15 and 10 years, respectively. To start off, I want to touch on the vast change that Nintendo has made in its controller design from its NES to its modern day Wii. As you can see in the pic on the right, Nintendo has gone from the basic 2-button layout to the motion sensing Wii remote. Both in my opinion were designed extremely well. However, Nintendo did have its hiccups when designing controllers for its other consoles. The quotes next to each sum it up pretty well (I censored the offensive language). Look at the N64 and Gamecube controllers. Why on Earth would you have a "three prong controller"?? I never once used the D-pad on the left. C'mon Nintendo...

Lets move on and look on the opposite sides of the Nintendo spectrum. The simplistic nature of the NES controller doesn't really give the user much chance of screwing things up. Move using the D-pad on the left, push A or B to perform actions, Start and Select in the middle for option and menu purposes. Thats it. Nothing fancy at all.

Now look at the Wii remote. Gamers back in the late 80's could only dream of such a beauty. The remote is designed extremely well, keeping simplicity alive, and utilizing the mental models of both a TV remote control and the original NES controller. For those of you unfamiliar with the Wii remote (I mean just the way it works, I'm pretty sure we all know what it is), here's a pic:

As you can see, it has very few buttons, just like the NES controller. People, especially those who have never played video games before, have really enjoyed using this product. The simple and intuitive design makes it easy for anyone to use. Also, one of my favorite things about this design is that you can turn the remote sideways and use it just like the oldschool NES controller! Sweet!

Ok, now onto Microsoft and its start-up of the Xbox. Sorry, didn't notice this is getting a little long (I'm a nerd when it comes to video games), so I'll keep this short. Take a look at the Xbox controller evolution below:

Just look at the first Xbox controller. Does it look like it was human centered? Maybe for Yao Ming and other NBA players, but for normal people? No. However, I applaud Xbox for its redesign because I really love the Xbox 360 controller. It fits in your hands perfectly, buttons are easy to access, and the dual joystick system is awesome for first person shooter games. So that's it from me. I'll leave everyone with a funny pic of the original Xbox Controller:


PS - I don't actually know how to type in 'L33t', I used that same site to translate from English.