Never afraid to fail.
Ten years of evolution: 2011 iPod vs. 2001 iPod.
Progress.
Ten years of constant product development, insight, and keeping things simple.
Its all about the desktop, do more with less.
bsnss dvlpmnt + thnk tnk + blg
Happy to see Nick Disabato (author or Cadence & Slang) launch yet another amazing Kickstarter project, a digital and print publication called Distance.
“Distance is a new quarterly publication featuring long-form essays about design and technology. Follow @distance on twitter. Your support will fund printing and shipping, paying our writers a respectable fee, licensing top-notch typefaces, and distributing digital bundles containing PDF, ePub, and Kindle editions.”
Oakland’s Welcome.
I am in the Bay Area developing some startups. I just flew in last night and am staying with my rad brother-in-law at his diggs in Oakland. On my way in he gave me a heads-up to Occupy Oakland. Better said on the NY Times there is some chaos going on.
It makes the chaos of a startup quite simple, there is a lot at stake, but no teargas or rubber bullets.
Image courtesy of Jim Wilson for the New York Times.
Opportunity
“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”
- Thomas Edison
Thank you for changing everything.
I wrote a post about change today, focused on Beta and where we have been. I had no idea that later in the day the most surprisingly difficult change for me would happen. A personal hero to me, and several others Steve Jobs is no longer here. I don’t write this to immortalize Steve as an innovator or visionary, of which he clearly is, but as someone who has admired him as a man; a man who has followed his heart, a man who has lived his own life. To his wife, Laurene, family and dear friends - my heart is also heavy.
Image courtesy of Wired.
Changes
Some people love it, some people hate it but we all know that constant change is life. You are not alone, at Beta we have been working hard in a rapidly changing economy. If you have followed Beta from the start, or even supported us, you have seen us transition over the last year and a half. For those just tuning in, here is the rundown.
1. Our original goal was to furnish a prototype shop and raise enough money to put down some floors and purchase some fundamental tooling. Thanks to Kickstarter and all our backers we got the funding to do that.
2. Once the funding arrived, so did change. Our space was under discussion of being sold. The funding for the floors had to be scratched, and reserved for the move. While the space worked out for the first eleven months, it was apparent beta had to find a new home.
3. Upon finding a new space with two amazing roommates (props to Moss) Beta was able to setup a viable prototype shop, shortly followed by opening its doors via the web. From Beta’s interactions with our new clients, we realized how much of a disadvantage startups, entrepreneurs, and small business were having developing new revenue models through products or services. Ahem.. change?
4. Here we are! Always in motion, in constant ‘beta’, now with some new features, services and solutions. Beta is a design blog + think tank x prototype lab = problem solving collaborative awesomeness. We are Industrial and Interaction Designers working with entrepreneurs and startups who have the passion for making big ideas happen, launching innovative products and changing the way we do business. Stay tuned..
RELAUNCH - Beta Objects - The Prototype Shop.
