The number of followers on my Paper PC Picks hot products board on Pinterest now rivals that of major tech websites such as Mashable and The Verge.
I don’t like to toot my own horn, but I’m quite proud of the CNET story on how I amassed 1.2 million followers on Pinterest. My Paper PC Picks board on Pinterest has proven to be an excellent vehicle for quickly posting short stories on new gadgets that I see at press conferences and trade shows.
Starbucks Director of Research and Development Paul Camera makes a cup of espresso with the $200 Verismo 580.
It’s rare when you hear the words “milk” and “technology” uttered in the same sentence, but that’s what Paul Camera, director of research and development for Starbucks, did as the company rolled out the Verismo System, its new line of premium one-cup-at-a-time home coffee and espresso brewers. At a launch event in New York, Camera and other Starbucks representatives showed off the $200 Verismo 580 and the larger $400 Verismo 585, which adds an LED readout, temperature control and other features. Both units can brew a cup of coffee in about 15 seconds.
The Verismo brewers use small coffee, espresso and milk pods that insert neatly into a slot at the top. Making coffee is as simple as adding water to the tank at the back of the Verismo units, inserting the pod into the Verismo, lowering a large lever and pushing a button. In practice the brewing process was quick and fairly quiet.
The $400 Starbucks Verismo 585.
Verismo System espresso pods.
Aside from developing systems that could deliver the right amount of water at the right temperature and pressure, a lot of the high-tech work in developing the Verismo System went into the milk, said Camera. He said the perfecting a dry milk pod with pure milk that could survive a year on the shelf took a bit of research and experimentation. He said the Verismo units are designed to rehydrate and heat milk without scalding it, thus ensuring a good-tasting latte.
Verismo 580 with coffee, espresso and milk pods.
The Verismo-compatible pods will sell for $12 per 12-pack, a Caffe Latte box including eight espresso pods and eight milk pods will sell for $13 while a 12-pack of milk pods will be priced at $10. The coffee selection includes Veranda, House Blend, Pike Place Roast and Caffe Verona while the espresso choices include Espresso Guatemala, Espresso Roast and Decaf Espresso Roast.
The Verismo units will be sold at stores such as Macy’s and Williams-Sonoma and will be sold at Starbucks stores starting Oct. 16.
Text, images and video Copyright 2012 Robert S. Anthony,
Never underestimate the geek value of a night at the museum, specifically New York’s Museum of Modern Art.
On a recent Friday afternoon (admission is free 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Fridays) I found myself on the third floor where MoMA houses a surprisingly eclectic and entertaining collection of old and new technology in its Architecture and Design areas.
While the Bell-47D1 helicopter in the lobby and the collection of vintage vacuum tubes were expected, the displays also include products you may have used or may be in your home right now.
The FPR2 Human Powered Radio and Freeplay Human Powered Torch from Freeplay Energy Ltd. would have come in handy during any of New York’s three major blackouts. Both units can be charged with elbow grease or via built-in solar panels. The London-based company still makes hand-crank-powered devices but they’re smaller and sleeker than these translucent 1998-vintage consumer products.
The IBM ThinkPad 701 notebook, which debuted in 1995, is a classic example of cool technology which went white hot and ice cold almost overnight. How do you fit a full-size keyboard into a compact laptop? Create a split keyboard which expands when you open the unit’s lid and collapses when you close it.
The butterfly keyboard, officially called the TrackWrite, allowed the unit’s 9.7-inch-wide case to accommodate a keyboard that could fold out to 11.5 inches wide. As laptops grew larger and more affordable, the need for such keyboard magic disappeared and the ThinkPad 701 ended up as the only ThinkPad made with the nifty folding keyboard.
Long before frills such as wireless mice, studio-quality audio or (gasp!) electronic displays came to personal computing, Olivetti’s Logos 80 Programmable Calculator provided a reasonable calculating option for those graduating from slide rules or four-function pocket calculators.
It’s not surprising when art makes its way from a museum for temporary display in the New York’s subway system, but it’s rare when things go the other way. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the folks who run New York’s subways, is experimenting with the Help Point Intercom, a highly visible customer assistance and emergency communicator.
Many stations have customer communication boxes, but they’re yellow and much smaller and sometimes hard to find. The Help Points are much larger, always illuminated and are uniquely coded so subway personnel can tell which unit was used to call in an emergency and where to send assistance.
In a pilot program, some units have been installed at the 23rd St. and Brooklyn Bridge stations on the Lexington Ave. line. Apparently the sleek, but functional design earned the Help Point a spot in MoMA even before it merited widespread adoption in the subway system.
The moral of this story: Cool design is timeless. Only time will tell if the electric toothbrush you used this morning will make it to MoMA’s third floor next year.
Text and video Copyright 2012 Robert S. Anthony, Stadium Circle Features
