Yesterday the Internet was all abuzz and twittering about SilverPac’s SilverFrame being shown at Computex in Taipei.
Engadget’s blog on the subject thought that SilverPac was doing “it’s best to break the boring mold of typical digital photo frames”. While over at Gizmodo they wondered if “SilverPac SilverFrame Is a Questionably Acceptable Use of the Term ‘Digital Picture Frame’.”
All this got me wondering, and wanting to ask a few questions.
- Is SilverPac truly “breaking the mold” or is it snuffing out the digital frame’s true purpose?
- At what point does a manufacturer cram a “frame” so full with technology and functionality that it no longer becomes a digital frame and becomes something else?
- Are the engineers that designed this “frame,” thinking that just because it has a video screen it needs to be filled up with a lot of gadgetry like a computer?
When it comes to product design for digital photo frames I could not help but think of two famous principles of GOOD design.
“LESS IS MORE” and “FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION”
To be honest, I am not sure this “gadget” adheres to these basic design principles. Why do I say this? Well, picture frames (even “traditional” frames for old fashioned paper pictures) are such that they sit in the background in our homes and offices passively displaying and sharing images of past moments that mean so much to us. Be it simplistic, picture display is the function of the form.
So I can’t help but wonder. Do people really want to fiddle, futz and get greasy fingerprints on another gadget that has functions commonly found on their computer, or better yet, their cell phone?
If showing personal photos is to be the primary function of the form, then I believe these over designed forms are not true digital picture frames. But what are they? Well, to be honest I am not sure what to call them. I do know that at CEIVA, photo display/sharing is the primary function we honor in our forms.
So until the next post… that’s what CeivaJoe knows!
POST SCRIPT: Do I see a trend? Since posting this blog this morning I have come across another “video screened gadget” being reviewed with the hopes that it be considered a digital photo frame. PC WORLD says in their review of Trancend’s PF720 that it “does it all, but… might be too much for those looking for a straightforward picture frame.“ And Tom’s Hardware writes “We’re also wondering why SilverPac is calling this a digital picture frame…” Hmmm… I guess it is not only me after all.
