My Slam concept has less to do with a product than it does with a Method. (I’ll have to figure out what form this will take…)
Design Statement:
eBay is changing the product longevity dynamic by creating a worldwide “trickle-down” persistant market for nearly any product. As a result, when I buy something today I consider it’s durability, marketability, and resale market value and hold onto the original packing materials.
But auctioning a product is still effortful, and if the product is broken, it hardly seems worth the effort to the seller or the buyer. My idea would be to inherently streamline the repackaging/refurbishing process. This explores life-cycle issues while building upon William McDonough’s principles for “Cradle to Cradle” manufacturing.
If I bought a new gadget, I would want…
-A seal of approval. The package should be identified and validated as repurposeable (ie. "Cradle to Cradle) which among other things could mean:
-The package to be durable enough to survive long term storage and multiple re-uses. Corrugated plastic vs. cardboard? Foam vs. Polystyrene? Ziplock bags instead of tear-open bags?
-A durable instruction manual in multiple languages
-Details on how/where to dispose of/recycle
-A URL to the instruction manual and support webpage–on the packaging or product itself to prevent loss.
-A URL to generate an auction page on the item automatically. This would include all the details about the product from the manufacturer, but also include an anonymous log of previous ownerships (like carfax)
-A pre-filled FedEx label to return the product in its packaging to the manufacturer (or approved 3rd party) for refurbishing. It would be nice if the manufacturer would buy it from you at market value–then you’d be finished and they could auction it off for you (they’d keep the profits in this case, which finances the project. They could also sell a mfr. warantee for additional profit.)
-Utility in the product itself to restore itself to factory defaults. For gadgets this means backing up and then wiping data.
-Adherence to international standards. If I lose the power cord, I can easily buy another one from a 3rd party. If I sell the product to someone in a country with different voltage standards, they don’t need a power adapter etc.
- ???