Dear Apple,

You’re making such elegant products that, when they become obsolete, we put them in drawers because we can’t bear to throw them out. Those old iPods are so beautiful that we want to keep them, but we have no idea what to do with them. Please address this design issue.

Sincerely, Your consumers' children

The Apple iSmoke: A design centered approach to life cycle analysis

Maybe products could be designed for the reality that they will have a life cycle.  Design takes for granted that products have one life span, but what if it was the norm for design to take into account how the product will be reused after it’s first life time. Some laws are starting to hold the manufacturer responsible for the disposal of their product, but everyone’s just focusing on recycling. That’s not where you solve problems.  Why not start dealing with the problem from the beginning.

This type of creativity is usually left up to the hackers and the DIYers, but perhaps it’s time for it to become part of the initial planning and design stage.

My challenge to Apple

It’s hard to imagine how existing products might be used, but below is an idea to get the ball rolling. I present to you the “iSmoke”, an elegant way to cut back on smoking by reducing your carrying capacity. It helped me slow down on my smoking and now, I'm proud to say that I’m a non smoker (6 months).

The irony of the iSmoke is that it facilitates smoking, which has been killing us, much like recent acceptance of disposable products. As we need to quit smoking, so do we need to quit throwing so much stuff out. Perhaps it’s time for a little extra design.

What will you do with your favourite electronics when they’re done?