I saw a bit of buzz about this on Twitter today (initially about the website itself). I caved, checked it out and was bowled-over by the Little Printer. Not that I need one—and if I had one I’m sure I’d only use it every so often—but I watched the promotional video and instantly wanted one. A fantastic example of simplicity and clever design creating a very desirable product.
Hello Little Printer, available 2012 from BERG on Vimeo.
At the core it’s a simple idea (aggregating and printing data form your social landscape), but the beautiful execution makes it amazingly desirable. Compared to how I already consume that info online, it’s not even very practical – in terms of time, cost and the age-old printer burdens of replacing the paper or toner. But the design makes me want one.
The physical design of the product is very slick. I love the Dieter Rams’ish simplicity and little light that beams “Yup, I’ve got new stuff for you.”. But the concept is what’s reeled me in. The idea of a little bit of paper with info that’s relevant to me; that I read while I’m having breakfast and then throw away is so quirky and compelling. True experience design.
I’ve been reading Aarron Walter’s Designing for Emotion and am re-reading Don Norman’s Emotional Design, so I suppose I’m especially susceptible to this kind of quirky, character-filled design right now. Regardless of that, Little Printer is still a very cool, desirable gadget.
The fact that you remotely control it with your smart phone is, well, pretty smart. I’m not a hardcore techie, but from what I gather the BergCloud technology which Little Printer runs on is interesting too. “A new platform for creating, connecting and controlling smart products and infrastructure”. That could be the tip of something very big.