Tomorrow Now: Envisioning the Next 50 Years

Quote:
The nineteenth century made machinery. The twentieth century made "product". But the twenty-first century makes gizmos. In a "product," form follows function. There isn't much decoration, because that would be irrational and inefficient; it increases production costs on the assembly line. For a gizmo, the function is the decoration. A gizmo, like a cell phone or a jogging shoe, has more functions than the user will even be able to master, deploy, or exploit. It is designed to have baroque and even ridiculous amounts of functionality. A gizmo "empowers the user" but not in any permanent or predictable way. It has irrational levels of power, which are base on experiential values like "fun" and "amusement" and "involvement" and "technical sweetness" and all things hip and designery.
A gizmo is neither a "machine" nor a "product." It doesn't want you to accomplish any task in particular. It wants a relationship; it wants to be an intimate experience, as close you as your eyebrow. It wants you engaged, it wants you pushing those buttons, it wants you faithful to the brand name and dependent on the service.

P.89-90, Stage 3: The Lover,
Tomorrow Now: Envisioning the Next 50 Years, Bruce Sterling


Theme:
Gizmo is your best friends!
Extension of Product:
Computer, Camera, AIBO, Car, iPhone, MP3 player, etc.