Gadgets "Aged to Perfection"

Used and banged up gadgets are usually considered as ugly by most people, but not to Remy Labesque of design mind's Object Oriented blog. He considers them "Aged to Perfection" (though that's not enough to consign the gadgets to the trash heap of obsolescence - or e-waste recycling, after he took the photos):

The truth is that consumer products are ‘new’ for a very brief moment when they are first removed from the packaging, but spend the great majority of their useful lives as ‘used’ products in the process of decay. Many welcome the breaking-in of products like a leather wallet or a pair of jeans as this wear can be aesthetically-pleasing. The Japanese have a term for this, “Wabi-sabi”. Wabi-sabi can be used to describe the aesthetically pleasing wear of an object as it decays over time. It’s a notion that embraces the transience of objects and celebrates the purity of the imperfect. Aging with dignity is a criteria designers should recognize in their efforts. I’m thinking of a future when products are designed not for the brief moment when they are new, but for when they have been aged to perfection.

Link - via Core 77


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I've always liked this type of thought. When you see a really well used, worn object, you know that someone has loved and cherished it. Also known as beausage:

http://www.yehudamoon.com/index.php?date=2009-10-11
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mine looked exactly like this when i lost it /or better say exposed it for an easy theft/. was so cool to have a 'vintage' iphone. i can't really take care of my gadgets, but i don't mind damages as long as they don't affect usability. hope the 5 comes with similar design so i can get my keys working again.
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