John Larkin wrote:
On Mon, 20 Apr 2009 21:08:32 +0100, Allus Smith
wrote:

All this talk about soldering irons makes me think how crummy too
much American industrial design is.

Some US industrial design looks great but some looks downright,
well, Russian.

Sure you can see crap-looking design in western Europe too but
there's a lot less of it than in the US.

Take soldering irons for example. An ordinary soldering iron in
the US with unregulated temperature still has great big mofo screws
holding the tip.

By comparison, my 30 year old British-made basic Antex is a sleek
looking baby and those Antexes are not particularly expensive.

Don't start me on the looks of cars!

If you buy cheap, you get cheap.

Get a Metcal. No screw at all.

Don't start me on the looks of cars!

Mini. Citroën. Vauxhall. Volvo. Rolls. Porsche. Fiat.

http://philip.greenspun.com/images/p...evaux-20.4.jpg


Now, now, don't diss that car. I had one for years. IMHO one of the most
clever car designs ever. It boasted features that none of the other cars
even came close to, regardless of which part of the planet they came
from. The epiphany happened on a German autobahn. Hardcore traffic jam,
nothing moved and it didn't look good for the next couple hours or so.
Within less than 60 seconds I had both front seats and the rear bench
sitting on the tarmac, so we could hold a proper poker game. No help,
all by myself. The guy who later joined us for the card game stood there
with his mouth wide open.

--
Regards, Joerg

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