Amadana's design-centric home electronics

As evidenced by their "Amadana" brand, Real Fleet realizes that some of you are willing to give up a bit of functionality in favor of design (something even we're occasionally guilty of). Consisting largely of blocky electronics that seem to take a cue from Frank Lloyd Wright, the brand uses a lot of acrylic, wood, and leather in places you generally wouldn't think to put such materials.

There were four products announced by Real Fleet yesterday: the "DT-120" phone with answering machine, the "DU-119" phone with nary an answering machine, the CR-202 learning remote, and the CS-115 stick-shaped cleaner. The specifications really aren't worth writing here, but it's not like we would know how to describe the specs for a "stick-shaped cleaner" even if we wanted to.

[madtracer @ Dec 19th 2005 2:28AM]

Rosana Rosanadana?

[KayJay @ Dec 19th 2005 2:28AM]

Very like Kirk delta, A danish phone from B&O.


http://images.google.com/images?q=kirk%20delta&hl=da&lr=&rls=CNDB,CNDB:2004-29,CNDB:en&sa=N&tab=wi

KayJay (Denmark)

[Andrew @ Dec 19th 2005 2:28AM]

Or more appropriately, some of you are willing to give up a bit of functionality in favor of style. If the products are truly less functional, then they aren't well designed. Unless the function of a product in this world has finally shifted from usability to profitability.

[Zac @ Dec 19th 2005 2:28AM]

Andrew thats a bit harsh. The simplification of an object can be the result of some excellent and intuitive design. I understand that this is a gadget site, but soemtimes I find products have so much extra functionality that it gets in the way of the core functionality. This is demonstrated very well with TV/DVD/Stereo remotes. For these you only use about 5 to 15 buttons with any sort of frequency, but there can be easily 30 or 40 buttons on the remote. These extra buttons which are rarely used often make it very difficult to find the buttons you actually use. So if someone redesigns a remote that stresses the location of the used button at the expenense of removing some rarely used buttons then this would be in many people's opinion (those that don't use those buttons) a very good design.

[KC @ Dec 19th 2005 2:28AM]

Seems to me as though this type of products will appeal mainly to three demographic groups...

1. Upper middle class (as these things are likely to be one hundred times the price of your average v-tech) women who want a phone that they can talk more about then they actually talk on...

2. Guys who think that ladies will dig this stuff so they buy it thinking it'll get them laid

3. the art/entertainment types who are looking for the next great fashion accessory for thier home

Oh.... and maybe Diddy 'cause he's a demographic all on his own and has a private jet with real gold accents all over the place

But for the rest of us Circuit City/Best Buy type geeks these things are probably a pass...

[JK @ Dec 19th 2005 2:28AM]

Here come the nerdier-than-thous....

[Joe Henson @ Dec 19th 2005 2:28AM]

I will give up multifunctionality for a simple to use thing of beauty... iPod anyone?

[Andrew @ Dec 19th 2005 2:28AM]

I didn't read "some of you are willing to give up a bit of functionality" as fewer buttons. It sounded more like the "blocky electronics" selling point was rooted in look, not simplicity.

I didn't mean to sound harsh (did I?), but I consider the poor distinction between design/er and style/ist to be a negative. It encourages the association of beauty with worth. Too many young consumers (my peer group, and most gadget users) have trouble distinguishing between good products with simple design and products with simple style.

This hurts the gadget market because more and more companies are selling products with simple style and terrible design, yet drones of confused consumers will rave over the superior design of these products, and buy them. I work in a field of design, and it scares me how many of these confused consumers end up working next to me in the office.

If we properly distinguish between style and design, we can help to improve the gadget market. Art is good, but let's not confuse it with design. Long live good gadgets.

[James @ Dec 19th 2005 2:28AM]

RealFleet/Amadana makes some very pretty stuff. I really like their TV remote control (http://www.amadana.com/product/cr102/cr102.html), but it's pretty much useless outside Japan or any other country that has no more than 12 TV channels.

[Englebert @ Dec 19th 2005 2:28AM]

I don't know about you guys but I'm digging this phone. It makes quite a statement (You're a tech geek-wannabe?) and just plain looks cool. I just like unique gadgets and electronics in general, and when something like this comes along I can't help but want it. Is that wrong?