There’s a provocative post over on the always-excellent Terra Nova blog called “What’s Next?” (Link). I caught it when it only had a few responses and expected many more. I was right. It’s gotten plenty of love since my last visit.

Unfortunately, that means I’m not likely to get caught up in my reading anytime soon. So rather than wait until I have something to say (which probably wouldn’t have been of any additional worth anyway), I’ll just point anyone who happens in here over to it and say you’ll probably be glad you surfed over.

From the Designspotter blog (Link):

Entropia is manufactured in laser sintered nylon, SLS.
…
Entropia is produced and marketed by Kundalini of Milan, a company synonymous the avant garde. Kundalini are the first recognised manufacturer other than a Rapid Prototyping bureau to adopt this technique for volume manufacture. This represents a significant milestone for the design industry as Digital Manufacture becomes increasingly viable for niche to medium volume manufacture.

I’m curious what the cost is. Also curious how much post-processing is done on the SLS part; I’d venture next to none since a lighting product can leverage the texture the process leaves behind. Disadvantage becomes advantage.

The question is: What other products can mix everything this way – cost, (relatively-unfinished) process, durability, perception of value, aso? Not many at the moment. At least not many that come to my mind. I need to give this some more thought (although I’ve already given it plenty).

via MoCo Loco

{Image source: Designspotter.com}

Interesting commentary over on Ad Age titled “How to Thrive in New World of User-Created Content: Let Go” (Link). I’d agree with everything except this line:

The ads aren’t just harmless, they’re beneficial.

Wrong. I believe they hurt. Not short term, but relatively long term. Because in between “(a)nyone in the market for oversize vehicles” and the “(t)ruck critics [who] didn’t have the Tahoe on their consideration list to begin with” are those who can be swayed. And those damning ads are so well-stated and so compelling (and gas prices are so high and global warming such a frequent topic in the MSM), that anyone on the fence about whether or not to purchase one of those vehicles in the near future is being pushed off in the wrong direction (from the manufacturer’s point of view). To blithely say that those ads didn’t hurt is to also say that ads in general don’t really help. I doubt author Scott Donaton really believes that.