Dull, stupid white goods?
Via CNet Asia,
"Whitegoods are dull. Nobody takes them seriously. Once dominant Japanese manufacturers have completely surrendered these menial commodities to Korean and Chinese firms, they keep on building basically the same old box year after year, although they are making it cheaper and cheaper. In this area at least, their creative mind goes only skin deep. Milliards of colors and printed patterns. Gothic, art nouveau, classic Tang dynasty style, and so on.
A few years ago, a strange wind started blowing through the Japanese whitegoods market. Incredible curiosities, things like a US$1,000 rice cooker, or US$2,000 washing machine. Not a Korean/Chinese cosmetic surgery whitegood, but really innovative and terribly expensive gadgets."
How to "evolutionalize" our white goods? What other usage do we need for our Refrigerator other than keeping our food fresh longer? A talking refrigerator that gives an alert about the expiry date of our stored food would be a bonus. Or how about a refrigerator equipped with an "anti-burglar" system or even a TV?
Or,
A washing machine that will give us a buzz once laundry is done wherever we are. Would that be quite a redundant? So what if we know our laundry is ready if we are not there to collect it. Read Laundry Day Going High Tech
Or,
How about an instant water heater which can provide you purified drinking water that you can drink directly without boiling? Well, would a hygiene conscious person willing to collect drinking water from bathroom? How many of us actually drink during showering?
The next question will be how many people are willing to fork out RM10,000 for a refrigerator or a washing machine or RM2,000 for an instant water heater. Hmmm.. home appliance is afterall just a home appliance. No matter how manufacturers "evolutionalize" them, nobody will take them seriously.
