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Those suffering from microphobia, read with caution
The video above is a report by the Wall Street Journal about a hot new trend in cattle farming - Miniature Cows.
The world is being taken over, in a small way. As larger and more impressive testaments to our time sprout up all over the globe, the devices and gadgets we interact with every day are getting smaller and smaller. Everything is getting smaller – from cars to cell phones – and there is no sign of the trend slowing or stopping.
The move to miniature devices comes down to simple practicality. When the personal computer came out in 1977 it was bulky and impossible to call portable. As consumer interests changed over the years a smaller and more portable option became the focus. In 1981 the Osborne 1 introduced the idea of the laptop and from then on they got smaller, lighter, and faster. Recently the predominating trend is for computers that can fit in your pocket. Trends, inherently, sometimes lose track of sensibility and become absolutely ridiculous. Take any smart phone on the market today with a full QWERTY keyboard. The keys can only be properly measured in millimeters, and more often than not the spaces between those tiny pebbles are nearly nonexistent. This means that when texting “Hey, where are you?” the actual result looks somewhat like “Hewy wqghere asre yuou?l”. This problem brings up the question of who these products are designed for.
Cell phones are hardly the only machine getting the miniaturization makeover; cars have also taken a hit. Within the last decade there has been a revival of famous mini cars from the last century. There is the Mini Cooper, the VW Bug, the Fiat 500, the Citroen DS, the Smart Car, etc. all of which are compact hatchbacks meant to slide in and out of traffic. The rise of gas prices has prompted a flurry of sales in compact vehicles. However, small cars are often the most practical option for people who live in or near cities. As with cell phones, tiny cars go well beyond common sense or reason. For instance, recently a man in Britain achieved a world record for the world’s smallest drivable car. It stands only 39 inches tall and 26 inches wide. The only way to drive it is to contort your body in ways barely possible. Follow the link to see.
For some less frustrating food for thought; media and music is getting mini. Ever since the SONY walkman, music players have been small. The iPod in the early parts of the decade became the absolute standard for portable media players, and then the shuffle came along. It was so uncompromising on size that buttons took second priority. The second generation negated to include any buttons on the actual device and placed them on the headphone cord. But this is about media, not devices - media itself. Youtube, mp3 players, and cell phones have shrunk the size of a screen from 50″ to 3″. The length of media has gotten short as well; the video, dramatic look, is only 9 seconds long yet it has become one of the most popular videos on the internet.
The number of gadgets and machines getting unduly miniaturized is far greater than can be discussed in paragraphs, so in the interest of ever-shrinking attention spans, a summation of the most ridiculous small things will follow.
Ever felt the need to fit your camcorder in your stick of bubblegum? Problem solved. Want a barely capable computer the size of an apple? Done. Phone the size of a AA battery? Right here. In fact, take a look at this list, and wonder why our R&D money is going to these odd projects. Maybe you can work it out in your miniature kitchen, if you happen to be inches tall…
While the number of ridiculously sized devices and esoterica is much too high to be discussed in less than a volumous anthology, small devices are taking over the world. Whatever the cause, shrinking attention spans or the advancement of the Japanese culture, it would be wise to prepare accordingly for the coming trend of mini everything.
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