Vivienne Tam shows off "MP3walkman" concept device
By Donald Melanson 
posted November 27th 2007 3:23PM
posted November 27th 2007 3:23PM
It looks like you can add yet another designer to the list of those doing their part to make gadgets slightly more fashionable, with Vivienne Tam reportedly set to show off the above concept device at the Vivienne Tam flagship store in New York. Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be any specs to speak of, but the so-called "TAM MP3walkman" (co-developed by Kitman Keung) does at least look a good deal better than some previous "designer" devices we've seen, even if it's still quite a ways from a finished product. Unless Sony actually has a hand in it, however, we're guessing that name will have to change before/if it's actually released.
[Thanks, Alice]
[Thanks, Alice]
It's a whistle?
Possibly a clip-on tie
Yes, this looks like a crimson whistle.
It looks to me like one of those slap bracelets from the 90s.
It looks, weird. That name just reminds me of River Tam, which may or may not be a good association depending on how you look at it.
River Tam is much sexier than that twisted red thingamabob.
BORING
look frail, and it rhymes with fail.
Wouldn't it be a TAM-P3 player? Buh- dum-ching!
Let me guess...1 or maybe 2GB of memory...a horrid UI much in the ranks of the iPod 'Classic'(whatever the hell that means...), and it's all Bluetooth! No, wait, there's not enough room in that for a Bluetooth chip...How about an annoying fashion-disaster of a USB plug? Or better yet, how about a headphone jack right next to a mini-SD slot, which is right next to the mini-USB plug, which is right above the nuclear strike button?
There is a reason concepts don't usually make it to production. If and when this ever makes it to a consumer level, the sexy curvature and the sleekness will be all but a shadow of a thought. There will be some obnoxious glowing lights behind all the buttons to effectively drain your battery into oblivion, and the nice curve-holder-clip-on-your-belt-or-shirt-or-existing-arm-band-thing will be an 'accessory', for which another $50 should suffice, which will make this another very odd shaped and rather annoying paper weight. You'll find this on Craigslist a month after its debut, with a heading reading something along the lines of 'needed to upgrade this shoe-looking-mp3 player for something, um...that works and doesn't require my first born to pay for'
yea, I know. Too far.
However, my opinion still stands.
You can find this device seeing itself onto the diamond-laden shelves of Gucci or Prada stores in the near future. Probably inlaid with diamonds itself..
you've summed up my thoughts on 'designer' items to a t. I don't think I've ever seen a design that I actually want to use. 99% of designers have no clue about how function integrates with form - they just do things to be different or go along with established 'trends' or whims - the result of which is a horrid, easily-forgotten product - assuming it makes its way up to a product (please god no).
This is the flagship of my point:
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2007/news/0709/gallery.luxury_electronics/2.html
ugh.
See what I mean by pointless overcompensation via 'style' on a rather bleak piece of technology? I mean, even the WindowsXP box computer (look it up on mini-itx.com) has more style than the brick I posted in the above link.
No doubt P.H. (I dare not speak the name of that which everyone knows) (Hint: First name is a city in France...needn't I say it?) will have her grubby rich little boozing hands all over one of those phones. Anyway, that's more attention than she deserves in one post.
However, to be perfectly fair, a few things must be stated in defense of myself before the next comment brands me Hypocrite:
1. I love technology. No, seriously, I am a junkie. I drive my fiance nuts showing her new techno-porn, as I call it. "Ohhh, that's a sexy computer right there. Show daddy what you can do for him, oooo yeaaaaaa, you know what daddy likes." (man, I am sick...)
2. I love techn...wait. That was number 1. Ok, on to #3..
3. I go online to computer manufacturers and build dreamy computers for fun. I max them out to see how high of a price I can wrangle out of the customizations and upgrades. I never buy anything, because I am poor. Besides, who has $11,000 to drop on an Alienware system with 3TB of storage? (any donations? :D )I DO like the idea of buying outrageously expensive technology at the forefront of the techno-evolutionary market. I'll say it again because I like hearing it: I Love Computers. Expensive ones. Computers that should come with a "My quadcore will gigachop your mom" sticker. BUT, do those computers not serve a purpose? Does the combination of hardware not collectively function to not only supply the raw HPower needed to run todays most memory-intensive programs (like Vista?) but supply as well a supple level of satisfaction with our techno-addiction? i.e. 'eye candy' aka 'GUI' aka Compiz-Fusion. Of course it does! It has it all, the brains and the beauty. (well, that's really a relative statement, and you know what I'm talking about if you've seen some of the current, horrid displays of computer case design...)
3b. Here is one example of what I'm getting at. This first link is something that many of you might stare blankly at. Some of you might know exactly what it is and flame that 'who needs something like that!?'. Then there are a few of you that will know the second you see the heading what it is, what it's used for, and know exactly how many people need to be robbed to obtain one. That last group of people are the ones I am speaking to here (Disclaimer: the robbing part was a joke. I do not condone, encourage, enable, force, or subtly imply robbery or thievery as part of any money making opportunity, although many corporations today are doing pretty well with it *ahemGASPRICESahem*)
On to the link: http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/17/sicortex-intros-sc072-catapult-72-processor-cluster-for-1500/
Yes, that's what it says. Yes, it's real. Yes, it's expensive. And YES, I WANT IT!
Next link:
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/speakers/mbl-speakers-look-steampunkish-cost-more-than-a-black-market-left-kidney-326082.php
Once again, that's really what you're seeing. Supposedly the best speakers in the universe, sent down from heaven, and lo! humans rejoiced!
Yes, those items are uber-expensive. Yes, they are outrageously unobtainable, but to come around to my point, Do they provide ultimate function and style? Ok, the 72-cluster computer isn't exactly Ali Larter, but to me, the looks being deceiving is what's sexy to me. Under the hood of that is the fastest, most intelligent pre-built home-server, ready for our ravenous rendering consumption and as far as I'm concerned you could just hand the cluster from the ceiling with no case to hold it and it would still be just as sexy to me. The speakers, well, they look pretty damn cool! And if they sound as great as they are priced to sound, then it's the perfect example of beauty and brains. One day that will be a betamax and we'll all have them. No big deal, I'm only 25 and I have forever to anxiously anticipate. But a crappy phone covered in jewels is not my idea of $73,000 happily leaving my bank account. Speakers that put you in a theatre of your own, and a computer that can render a 35 hour fractal in 35 seconds? Priceless.
Yea, this is a long winded post, and I could have probably just said 'ugh' and left it at that, but what good is anonymity if you can't victimlessly exploit it?
:D
Besides, I love technology, talking about it, dreaming about it, and bashing it all the same. :)
With all the potential in that article, i'm surprised there weren't any links to vaguely related articles strew throughout it like we're used to.
I think it takes little thought to criticize. I like it. The headphone jack may be a bit of an issue, because it seems to be nowhere in sight (and therefore is likely near the USB interface), but that's partly what I like about it. It's sleek and elegant enough to wear around town, yet functional enough to wear clipped to an exercise outfit. Personally, I find the clip option a nice alternative to my ipod. Some may respond that the shuffle has a clip. It also has no display, or method of song selection, like this "TAM-P3" player. (Thanks for the moniker russ-d).
I actually interviewed at the company in Hong Kong with the guy who was responsible for this design.
He was a typical designer with too much focus on flimsy curvy lines and too little on how to combine functionality with form.
He actually wanted me to make his half assed designs work. (this was over 2 years ago and it looked just as unfinished back then).