::DYSON WITHIN REACH::

Last night, I attended a talk by the inventor James Dyson at the Dallas Design Within Reach studio. Amid high-dollar furniture units, he spoke, accompanied by swank engineering-cutaway animations on the screen behind him. My friends and I sat on this couch, drinking red wine (very carefully, as it was a cream-colored couch) and munching on crackers with tarted brie. A few highlights of the talk:

.: Buckminster Fuller inspired him.
.: He doesn't know who Dean Kamen is (I asked a question about interest in collaboration).
.: He's made a dual-drum washing machine which uses -- I love this phrase -- "epicyclic motors."
.: His company has developed a great way to diagnose problems via telephone: Put your phone up to a vacuum's wheel, and it'll rotate in a way that communicates, in binary, the appliance's use patterns and vital stats. He's not allowed to log what time you vacuum, apparently.
.: Japanese businessmen get really hammy at 4am.
.: He wore an amazing wool jacket that blurred from black to olive from the collar down.

All in attendance got a free copy of his book, which made me happy.

In other Design Within Reach news, their "Champagne Chair Contest" finalists are chosen: Link.