The Tech Chair deck chair looks ill-equipped for British summers
Experts from the computer retailer PC World have created this concept of a new breed sun longer; one designed for the modern gadget-dependent consumer.
On the outside it looks like nothing more than an ordinary chair, although its occupant is probably far too attractive to be found sun-bathing on your cluttered patio. Inside however, it is packed full of enough gizmos, sockets, wireless connectors and general tech to force any true geek to make a dash for the cold shower.
The concept design packs in long-range WiFi, Bluetooth, camera docks, MP3 docks, a games console holder, a laptop holder, USB ports, headphone sockets, speakers, an LCD screen and solar panels. And with just one short rainstorm, it will instantly revert to being a plain old deck chair again! Incredible!
Aside from the incompatibility between weather and tech (and not to mention what would happen if sun cream or sand was ever thrown into the mix), it is a fairly interesting idea. However, I think the sheer number of geek accessories it has to sport is a revealing sign of what wrong with a lot of these grand concepts and the whole of consumer tech right now.
The camera dock for instance. Is that for Kodak cameras? Olympus? Canon? Nikon? And is that an iPod dock there? Will it work with any of the billions of less popular players? You see the problem. It is one that you always think will start to fade away, only to get worse year on year.
Wi-Fi is a better call though, and I suspect we’re likely to see WiFi routing and extension services built into some very interesting objects in future. Some pubs, for example, now have wireless routers hidden inside fruit machines. But then again, WiFi itself is battling with rival mobile broadband services and might not be the de facto standard in a few years.
As for the rest of it, well, it can’t hurt to have a few more solar powered whatnots kicking about. Got to keep that climate change under control otherwise there won’t be any sun to, erm, bathe in.
(via The Design Blog)
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