Blog questions challenge: Technology Edition

I saw these questions on JP (moddedbear)'s capsule and thought it was worth a go!

When did you first get interested in technology?

I think the key thing was working on building Cybot from the Real Robots magazine with my dad as a kid. It was a cute little blue bug-shaped robot.

With each issue of the magazine you'd get parts for the robot - bits to build a gearbox, or a PCB (can't remember if you had to populate them yourself). My dad used these kits to teach me about assembly and disassembly, electronics, soldering and all kinds of other things. And of course it was great bonding time together!

I'm very surprised it's still up! As an aside I noticed Rex Garrod (RIP) is mentioned on the website. As the builder of Brum he would probably have been a bit of a childhood hero of mine if I'd known about him! Prior to that he also co-created "The Secret Life of Machines" with Tim Hunkin, who now on his youtube channel seems fond of the memories.

What's your favourite piece of technology of all time?

This award would probably have to go to my Sony PSP, largely due to the times I had playing games on it with friends. I'd take it to school and we'd play Monster Hunter Freedom Unite together at lunchtime, rushing to finish the hunt before the bell rang. That kind of portable social gaming isn't something I've had since - although I did have a Nintendo DS before the PSP that could have been used in a similar way. Beyond that it served me well for a good few years more - it's such a capable system and there are so many incredible games for it. The ones that spring to mind are Monster Hunter and the Patapon games (cute rhythm games where you are the god of an army of eyeball-creatures).

I then got into PC gaming, but later on rediscovered my PSP as an emulation system. It's incredible as a Game-Boy Advance emulator, and it can do plenty of older systems too (although I didn't do that much). Other than a couple of battery replacements it's been a really enduring console. I think if I didn't have the Steam Deck now I'd still be using it a bunch now!

What's your favourite piece of technology right now?

My favourite piece of tech at the moment is intentionally much simpler. It's my sewing machine, the Brother HF27. It was a huge upgrade from my old beginner's machine, mainly in terms of quality-of-life features. For example, the presser foot can be swapped out with the press of a button instead of needing to undo a screw. There's a little hook you can swing down that makes it trivial to thread the needle. That kind of thing.

I went out of my way to choose a mechanical machine. I don't want a complicated computerised or more electronic machine with a bazillion stitch options that will die as soon as it's out of warranty. I want something that I can keep on using for decades. The HF27 is tough, it's reliable (so far) and in theory it's more serviceable than the computerised machines that everyone's trying to push now.

Name one cool piece of technology we'll have in 25 years

It's hard to be optimistic about technology at the moment with everything that's going on in terms of hypercapitalist grifty monetisation (among other issues). Software is largely bad (sorry software developers) and I am extremely pessimistic about us being able to change the warped incentives that have led to that.

As an industrial designer I think/hope we're going to develop Computer Aided Design tools that are easier to express what you're trying to do. CAD is quite a wide term but generally means software that you design 3D stuff in. It's often very engineering oriented which usually means you've already got a design idea ready. The software is typically more oriented towards doing things "right" than staying out of your way and letting you create. That's great for creating something manufacturable, but not so great for earlier on in the process.

It's common to sketch to explore your ideas before committing them to CAD, but I'd like to see more options for a 3D version of sketching, exploring ideas and throwing out possibilities. With VR/AR improvements I think there's a lot of room to make some really cool interfaces for this that blend physical and digital worlds. A big issue that comes to mind is scale - on a screen it's hard to get a feel for how big something is since you can just zoom in or out. If I could see it in meatspace and look around it, it would be much easier to comprehend. Context is key.

Passing on the challenge

Now it's your turn! If you haven't already posted about them I'd love to read your thoughts about these questions.