In his book The Invisible Machine, Donald Norman argued that computing technology must follow the same evolution as phonographs, cars and wristwatches -- away from expanding feature complexity and towards consumer values like style, form and personalization. Alienware, which has built itself a tremendous niche market in an industry overshadowed by the mighty Dell by catering to gamers, has the new case design show at left. It reminds me of some exotic car detailing, and it's definitely an indicator that what's motivating purchases is changing.
Tom Karlo's homepage since 1994, weblog since 2000.
