Readymade News

An Illustrated Weekly of World Design, 28 April 2008

Bicycle sharing has been done in Europe, and done well in some cities. This article catches our attention mainly because it is an attempt to bring the concept to the US. The NY Times goes on to say how the idea is hardly novel, but we have found something of interest in the technology and adaptation for the journey over the Atlantic. The bikes will be fitted with devices that allow riders to receive "demerits" when they keep the bikes out for longer than the 3 hour maximum or could even be charged up to 200 US Dollars if the bike is kept for more than 48 hours.

We have been telling clients for a while now about the changing landscape of the banking world. This video portrays what people see the future of financial services becoming. We have also felt the need to show you an article that shows the willingness of large banks(that you may remember from last week's post)  to team with open minds to create breakthroughs in finance.

 

We often talk about "green" trends, and we also talk about innovation that helps people. This article, courtesy of BBC, talks about what can go wrong if  green and sustainable practices are ignored even in an effort to help feed people. We encourage responsibility and foresight in all endeavors.

An Illustrated Weekly of World Design, 21 April 2008

With the new Iron Man movie slated to hit theaters in the US on the 2nd of May, we couldn't pass this one up. According to the BBC, the US Army has built robotic suits, well actually--a private firm called Sarcos seems to have worked in collaboration with the US Army on the XOS exoskeleton. The suit moves with the wearer and basically increases strength and endurance. It is currently being tested for use in supply chain and loading sequences, but a battle ready version may soon be in the works.

With Business Week's April 28 issue primed to hit newstands, we figured we would give you a sneak peak at the top 50 most innovative companies. the article that accompanies the "top 50" should be of just as much concern to you innovators as who made the list. With pending global economic slowdown, executives have less patience for the big innovation push that seemed like green pastures just one year ago.

Many developing nations think they can make money by destroying their forests and selling to smaller, wealthier countries. This article, courtesy of NYTimes.com poses a wonderful question. As people who need to reduce the carbon footprint we have created, would it behoove us to pay them not to cut down their forests? We fully support reading the entire article.

An Illustrated Weekly of World Design, 14 April 2008

We love Jan Chipchase. We love stories about cellphones in Africa. This next story was an easy one. You can find a detailed article about Chipchase and the approach that Nokia has embraced. An on the ground intelligence gathering approach reaches beyond Jan Chipchase and Nokia--it symbolizes the type of innovation we like to see from large corporations as well as SMEs. The article is long, but worth your time.

We hate to be cliche, but in this case a picture is truly far more meaningful than anything we could write. We borrowed the picture from Rueben Miller's Blog. And you can find the original picture in context here. Hope you can read French.

Phillips has long set trends in innovation and design. The newest ideas we see coming from Phillips are focused on "far-future" research initiatives that are created to set the pace for human innovation. These "far-future" initiatives are called Design Probes, and focus on five major areas: politics, economics, cultures, environments, and technology futures. You can look into the ideas further here.

An Illustrated Weekly of World Design, 7 April 2008

A couple weeks ago, we told you guys about the Google offices in Zurich. We provided a nice video via a link, but the clever guys over at swissmiss have done us one better with this PDF in their article about the same. We realize that we have been ringing the creative space bell quite loud and clear, but in case you have missed the past several months, consider this your invitation to catch up.

Hydrogen power, old news right? Well, not if it is powering a manned airplane. This article from the BBC discusses how a giant in the air industry has completed 3 short flights south of Madrid. An airplane that runs on fuel cells that only produce water and heat could revolutionize air travel. The revolution will be welcomed with open arms, as even the most green individuals prefer to fly several hours rather than bike several days--or even drive a day or two.

African farmers get a boost. This slick article detailing "the hat man", "Hartman" or even sometimes "hitman", reminds one that science and technology are alive and well in Africa. Hartman(our preferred alias), heads up the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture(IITA) and is devoted to helping African farmers survive an often brutal climate. Food goes from testing in a lab to growing on the African plain.

We couldn't leave you without sharing this piece from Bruce Nussbaum with regard to an interview of a leader in the design field, Phillipe Stark.