2011-07-18 09:41:49 // Sarah Robson
// The Idealog Blog
Ah, those crazy Swiss people. First they invented the Swiss Army Knife, now they've come up with a way to turn your car into a house.
2011-07-05 12:49:36 // Idealog
Inventors can look forward to a faster, cheaper and more streamlined trans-Tasman patent process in the very near future.
2011-07-04 18:42:17 // Design Daily Team
Air New Zealand's long-haul redesign, a springless trampoline and a more efficient sheep drencher have scored at the prestigious International Design Excellence Awards.
2011-03-17 11:37:36 // Design Daily Team
// The Idealog Blog
Aside from the city streets being overtaken by drunken and green debauchery, St Patrick’s Day offers up a good excuse to look at some of Ireland’s more successful inventions. Sure, there may be failures like the counter productive waterproof tea bag invention, but did you know the Irish are also behind some pretty impressive and influential creations, like colour photography and the first successful launch of a submarine? IrishCentral.com offers up this top 10 list.
2010-10-20 17:34:08 // Su Yin Khoo
// Idealog #29: workshop
Ray Avery's memoir is an honest-to-goodness tale about how with the right attitude, a worthy goal and good friends, you can make a real difference.
2010-06-22 11:53:17 // Deirdre Robert
// The Idealog Blog
| 1 comment
In a new twist on Ponoko.com’s popular personal factory concept, creators can now design and make their own desktop factory using open source 3D printing from MakerBot Industries.
2010-01-14 10:44:00 // Amanda Cropp
// Idealog #25: features
| 1 comment
While the gaming industry works out how to draw yet more pixels faster, a Dunedin company is using its backyard invention to bring the real world to screen in picture-perfect quality. Amanda Cropp meets the snap-happy team behind Areograph
2009-11-06 15:41:20 // Kris Herbert
// Idealog #24: now
Before the Segway’s launch—back when it was called Project Ginger—a group of Kiwi inventors was figuring out how to make something better. Meet Project Garlic.
2009-10-07 12:19:14 // Sangeeta Anand
// Idealog #23: now
| 1 comment
How do you improve the definitive land yacht? By putting it on the water, of course.
2009-09-15 13:56:31 // Paul Reynolds
// Idealog #23: workshop
| 1 comment
Innovation always has a history. Two books remind us that the present isn’t the only age of wonder.
2009-09-11 10:02:11 // Matt Suddain
// Idealog #23: features
It’s 30 years since the release of the Sony Walkman. Matt Suddain tracks the evolution of portable music—and the complaints of those who wish it would go away.
2009-07-31 09:49:03 // Matt Cooney
// Idealog #22: features
| 2 comments
When guitarist Ben Fulton went electric, he found the only way to get the right sound was to make his own gadgets—and other guitarists agreed. But how do you turn a garage business into an international boutique brand? First, you find someone to share your dream—like Geoff Matthews.
2009-07-09 09:56:21 // Amanda Cropp
// Idealog #22: now
| 2 comments
Three Fisher & Paykel veterans have a radical new design for domestic wind generation. It’s a long way from the DishDrawer.
2009-06-30 10:18:21 // Matt Cooney
// The Idealog Blog :: The Idealist The Atlantic reports that some sicentists are considering “radical—and possibly extremely dangerous—schemes for reengineering the climate by brute force”. One plan suggests tethered zeppelins spraying sulphur into the atmosphere, giving that authentic Blade Runner effect. There’s an interesting set of other drawbacks, too …
2009-05-28 09:19:43 // Laura Westphal
// Idealog #21: now
James Madelin left investment banking to become a photographer—and found that he’s an inventor, too.
2009-02-20 14:48:29 // Ben Kepes
// The Idealog Blog
Matt Jones is a designer who was formerly creative director for the BBC news online. He was with Nokia as the director of UX design and he’s now with Dopplr.
2008-09-05 11:32:22 // Gena Tuffery
// Idealog #17: features
Four Canterbury University students take their masterplan to solve our traffic woes to Paris, competing against 60 other countries for Microsoft’s Imagine Cup—and cure a writer’s cynicism along the way. By Gena Tuffery
2008-06-11 08:39:48 // Gena Tuffery
// Idealog #15: now
AIS WatchMate will let you know when you’re in line to hit another boat—leaving you free to keep an eye out for Jaws
2008-04-29 16:34:53 // Kris Herbert
// Idealog #15: now
| 1 comment
Many have tried to build a better mouse, but a Christchurch startup has built two—and computing may never be the same
2008-02-28 12:47:24 // Sally Blundell
// Idealog #14: features
| 3 comments
A mystery illness left Garth Murray’s memory shattered, his focus lost, his working days over. Help came from an unexpected quarter: his own dreams. Sally Blundell tacks Murray’s strange trip from sickbed to hi-fi innovator
2007-11-16 14:06:18 // Lauren Bartlett
// Idealog #12: features
| 2 comments
A meeting with Fred Hollows set Ray Avery on a new career. Kiwi entrepreneurs are breaking the Third World poverty trap with money, new business models and smart ideas—and selling the same things to the pampered West. Lauren Bartlett unearths the fortune at the bottom of the heap. Plus: The startups sparking Third World innovation.
