« The Distribution of Web Content | Back to Home | Web Content and Social Networks »
March 06, 2005 The discHub
The Product Design division at Stanford University is a rare and wonderful program. In combination with one of the world's best student machine shops, it gives students the tools and support to build pretty much anything they can think up.
Alex de Rouvray built a CD storage solution for his senior project in 2001. Stanford emphasizes finding a unique point of view, and for him it was figuring out what to do about the temporary storage problem: those CDs stacked around the computer or stereo because the person needs quick access to them. The discHub was born.
I've been using the discHub for about a year now, and it's handy to have around. With the number of discs burned off of a spindle, having some place to put them so that they don't get scratched before they're moved to a book sleeve is convenient.
Jon Bruck worked with Alex to bring this product to market. They have a website where you can buy one for around $12. You can also get one for free if you sign up for Netflix through the website.
There are competing products but one thing that's interesting about the discHub, in addition to the product design, is how it's being marketed.
It's tapping in to the power of the blog community: site's like Josh
Rubin's Cool Hunting, Gizmodo, Engadget and others. With the help of RSS tools like Bloglines, blogs are becoming a more common way to find out about relevant news and products. Now if I could just get a strong collaborative filter, I'd be all set.
Posted by johnnie at March 6, 2005 09:08 PM