The World, Filtered*

Design Thinking and Marketing
http://designmind.frogdesign.com/blog/design-thinking-and-marketing.html

"I was interviewed by BrandWeek the other day for a story on the recent
hype around "Design Thinking" in marketing. They were looking for a
skeptic and found me. First of all, it is worth noting that the term
"design thinking" is of course a clever marketing buzzword. It's ironic
that marketers themselves embrace it as the next big thing as it doesn't
create a new marketing paradigm so much as it proves that marketers are
prone to being persuaded by their very own tricks. "Design Thinking" has
become a brand, and brands are all the more powerful when they present
themselves as memes.

But what does "design thinking" actually mean? Let's rely on the wisdom of
crowds and see how Wikipedia defines it:  "Design thinking is a process for
practical, creative resolution of problems or issues that looks for an
improved future result."  Wow. Isn't that what every single task in
business is about? Or, for that matter, every single action in life? The
rest of the paragraph adds some more specifics: "Unlike analytical
thinking, design thinking is a creative process based around the "building
up" of ideas. There are no judgments in design thinking. This eliminates
the fear of failure and encourages maximum input and participation.
Outside the box thinking is encouraged in this process since this can
often lead to creative solutions." Hmm…ok.

Some Design Thinkers herald Design Thinking as the ultimate problem solver
for business, social, and political challenges. The current financial
meltdown? A lack of design thinking. Our health care sytem? Design
Thinking can fix it. The HIV crisis in Africa? Make sure to apply Design
Thinking. Granted, design is a fundamental responsibility for
organizations in all sectors of our society, and it is absolutely critical
in addressing problems of all kinds. But the quest that everybody should
think like a designer is not the non plus ultra formula. Or, as Raymond
Loewy, the famous industrial designer, pointed out wryly: "Design is too
important to be left to designers."

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World's most efficient solar cells created
http://www.sciencealert.com.au/news/20082410-18340-2.html

"The University of New South Wales: ARC Photovoltaic Centre of Excellence
has reported the first silicon solar cell to achieve the milestone of 25
per cent efficiency.

The UNSW ARC Photovoltaic Centre of Excellence already held the world
record of 24.7 per cent for silicon solar cell efficiency. Now a revision
of the international standard by which solar cells are measured, has
delivered the significant 25 per cent record to the team led by Professors
Martin Green and Stuart Wenham and widened their lead on the rest of the
world.

Centre Executive Research Director, Scientia Professor Martin Green, said
the new world mark in converting incident sunlight into electricity was
one of six new world records claimed by UNSW for its silicon solar
technologies."

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Time Magazine - 50 Best Inventions of 2008
http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/completelist/0,,1852747,00.html

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How the Netbook Will Convert the Anti-Cloud Computing Crowd
http://mashable.com/2008/11/01/netbook-cloud-computing/

"Don't think cloud computing is a wonderful thing? Wait until everyone and
their mother has a netbook in hand.

Yeah, you know, those small Wi-Fi-happy machines sporting 8-13” screens,
flash-based storage drives, Intel Atom central processors, etcetera,
etcetera.

For a large portion of the global population, even those in well-developed
regions, this might seem like really loose premise. Netbooks for everyone?
Why not get an full-on laptop? You can do more with your dollar! And any
simple tasks on the Web can be done with some of the smartphones making
the rounds on hardware review sites, right? Well, I'm not so sure….

…Not so much bigger, though. We recently shared a few notes on the netbook
space and how things are progressing in the field, both in hardware and
software. It's safe to say that in recent months, apart from the requisite
dotage on Apple's lineup of philosophically conventional MacBook and
MacBook Pro products, the market of netbooks has transferred to a
semi-front burner position in terms of attention grabbed and attention
earned.


And its quite clear why that is. The class of gadgets led by the Asus EEE
PC has performed in ways that would not be the case two or three years
ago, and it's mark as something of a phenomenon largely comes down to
price. Consumers can grab a fairly well-equipped netbook from the current
crop of options for an average of $300-500. (According to recent news,
Asus may launch a $200 offering next year.)

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The Lincoln Highway Association
http://www.lincolnhighwayassoc.org/info/

&

A Ride Along the Lincoln Highway - A Rick Seback documentary
http://www.wqed.org/tv/sebak/lincoln_hwy/

"The idea of the Lincoln Highway came from the fertile mind of Carl
Fisher, the man also responsible for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and
Miami Beach. With help from fellow industrialists Frank Seiberling and
Henry Joy, an improved, hard-surfaced road was envisioned that would
stretch almost 3400 miles from coast to coast, New York to San Francisco,
over the shortest practical route.

The Lincoln Highway Association was created in 1913 to promote the road
using private and corporate donations. The idea was embraced by an
enthusiastic public, and many other named roads across the country
followed.

Americans' enthusiasm for good roads led to the involvement of the federal
government in building roads and the creation of numbered U.S. routes in
the 1920s. The Federal Highway Administration and the Interstate Highway
System is the culmination of these efforts."

AC: I just learned of the Lincoln Highway this weekend via Rick Seback's
documentary broadcast on Public Television. A fascinating part of
American history, made even more personal considering that Frank
Sieberling, referenced above, was my wife's great grandfather!