Object I love: Collapsible Laundry Basket
Collapsed:
Expanded:
This is the ideal basket for space saving purposes. It can expand up to 4 times its size and be able to hold a good amount of material. It can also collapse and be stored in a reasonably small space. I will never give this basket up. The rubber material and creases affords the ability to expand the middle body and collapsibility of the basket. Collapsed, I’ve used it as a tray to carry light stuff around the house, but it’s not designed to be tray, therefore it typically serves no purpose but to be stored in a small space. Expanded, I’ve primarily used it to hold my laundry to and from the washer and dryer. The rubber handles make the basket much more comfortable to carry on the palms of my hands. And the holes around the basket allow for air circulation that is needed when I load it with warm clothes fresh from the dryer. All in all, the design of this basket, especially focusing on its ability to be shrink in size, is a winner in my book.
Object I hate: New Macbook Charger
Don’t get me wrong, I am typically a huge fan of Apple and their designs. Their older magnetic charger ports and the feedback of the charging state by the light indication on the port is simply perfect. What I mainly have an issue with is their redesign of the port as well as the lack of update on the charging block. Switching the port to be a USB-C might have made it more universal, but it is lacking satisfaction and feedback. Going from the ports magnetically attaching to the laptop to having to look around and insert the charger is a step back in my opinion. Not to mention, there is no visual indication on whether or not the laptop was charging. I have heard it make a sound when it connects, but it’s not always consistent. I have had to open my laptop some days to make sure it actually is being charged since I did not receive any sort of feedback that it was indeed charging.
Moving onto the charging block, I have a major issue on its size seeing as it needs to sit perpendicular to the socket. The constraint of this design is not ideal if the wall outlet is behind the couch, for example, and one might need to move a couch in order to charge their laptop. I am aware that they have a cord attachment where the block will sit in between the cords and the size issue is no longer existent, however, it does make the product less compact and more cumbersome to carry around when on the go. If they can make an attachment where the prongs are placed on the side, allowing the block to be parallel to the socket, it would solve many space saving issues. I have depicted in the picture here how potentially simple this new proposed attachment might be.
Hey Sofanah, Thanks for a detailed post on the objects you love and dislike. It was interesting to read that the affordance of the laundry basket enabled you to apply it for other unintended uses. I guess they totally forgot about visibility and feedback with USB-C charger (I’ve only used the new Macbook for my internships, so I dont remember if it plays any audio feedback, but I get how you might have closed the laptop and still want to see/know that it’s getting charged alright. You bring out a very important issue in that not only does the design of the new charger disappoint, but also poses constraints or barriers in how you’re having to structure other physical objects at home. Thoughts?