Blackberry Reviews

Undoubtedly one of the defining aspects of improvements in devices is actually not manufacturing breakthroughs but design and style. While anyone can argue that design and technology advancements move in conjunction, it is equally quick to see how design rules customer behavior. This has been the case for a long time since industrial production allowed producers to create cheaper products where the onus was on design rather than functionality. E.g., the paper clothing of the 60s were inexpensive and of a poor quality yet for some fashion conscience consumers they were must have wardrobe items.

This process continues today. Cell phone manufacturers continually play with the dichotomy of functionality vs design. Lots of designers choose simple designs and rely instead on features. Others choose to feature less features but instead focus on the design, sometimes working with famous people.

With such a focus on design over usability, it is easy to think of technology products solely as design orientated but it's important to remember that such devices are meant to have functional benefits as well. When making your choice of what product to buy there is always three different factors that you must weigh up - cost, design and features. Sometimes you might want to spend more on design or features. At other times they are incorporated. Apple's design ethos is an excellent example of design converging with technology.

If you always buy products based on their design then you should start to think about the functional factor too. While it may be tempting to purchase the coolest designed product, it might not be the most robust. You should really always look at the functions of the device and how you will be using it. There is no point getting a high-tech laptop if all you do is send emails or surf online.

So, when buying a new product, always think about how you will use it or why you need it. An example of this is e-book readers (such as the Amazon Kindle). These have practical uses in real life as well. For example, plenty of airlines now limit flyers to only one piece of luggage. An e-book reader is much smaller than your average book and you are able to take plenty more books with you when you go on holiday than you might otherwise be able to.

Phones are a good example of improved technology. You can take your phone for all of your media needs. Many now feature large storage capacities enabling you to save videos, pictures and music. phones now also have digital cameras as well, meaning you will not have to buy a separate, expensive camera. The net is not any different. Plenty of websites have been designed with usability and functionality as the focus. You can now find websites which have been designed to allow you to plan online time better. They vary from a social bookmarking service, password manager and personalized homepage.

A bookmarks manager can save you time and can transform your work process. Unfortunately, lots of them have a functional design. It will be intriguing to see how they will develop over time as more of us expect functionality that is shown in a well designed product.