Wood-Covered Gadgets Take It Old School
Posted By Ariel Schwartz On April 30, 2009 @ 11:00 am In green gadgets | 4 Comments
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Most of our modern-day gadgets are swathed in plastic or other high-tech materials [5], and why wouldn’t they be? Plastic [6] is both cheap and easy to produce. But English Russia [7]‘s display of wooden [8] gadgets [9] shows that sometimes the most elegant items are the simplest.
As you might suspect, wood-covered devices [10] don’t come cheap and never have. According to English Russia [11], wood-covered clocks [12] were popular in the 19th century among Russian Tzars and other well-off members of society. Few of the clocks survived the Russian Revolution and the Communist reign, and those that did are available in antique [13] shops for the steep price of $20,000. That hefty price tag still applies today and is likely the reason many wood craftsmen have given up their trade or reverted to other materials.
Quality wood [14]is usually reserved for construction [15] works, so its hard to find top-notch lumber for, say, a wood-covered computer [16] mouse. But we imagine if more electronic items [17]were covered in wood, users would be less likely to toss them in the trash [18]. Instead, we’d just return a product when it reached the end of its lifecycle [19], wait to see how nimble-fingered artisans reused the material to elevate the next tech trend and be grateful that the craft [20] of woodworking had lived to see another day.
Via English Russia [21] and Treehugger [22]
Article printed from Inhabitat – Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building: http://inhabitat.com
URL to article: http://inhabitat.com/wood-covered-gadgets-take-it-old-school/
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[3] Email: mailto:?subject=http://inhabitat.com/wood-covered-gadgets-take-it-old-school/
[4] Image: http://www.inhabitat.com/?p=26714
[5] high-tech materials: http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/04/14/recycled-aluminum-soda-can-brooch/
[6] Plastic: http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/04/18/eco-art-chris-jordans-gyre/
[7] English Russia: http://www.englishrussia.com
[8] wooden: http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/04/20/paper-wood-stools-sit-lightly-on-the-earth/
[9] gadgets: http://www.inhabitat.com/category/green-gadgets/
[10] wood-covered devices: http://www.inhabitat.com/2008/05/23/domestic-aesthetic-housewares/
[11] English Russia: http://www.inhabitat.com/2008/02/27/russia-tower-worlds-largest-naturally-ventilated-building/
[12] clocks: http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/03/07/daylight-savings-recycled-vinyl-clocks/
[13] antique: http://www.inhabitat.com/2008/10/12/rebecca-sako-vintage-sequin-jewelry/
[14] wood : http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/03/25/housing-crisis-worlds-trees/
[15] construction: http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/04/13/porcupine-building-cleared-for-construction-in-the-uk/
[16] computer: http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/02/16/recompute-by-brenden-macaluso/
[17] electronic items : http://www.inhabitat.com/2008/12/11/apple-debuts-greenest-macs-ever/
[18] trash: http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/03/24/sxsw-film-garbage-dreams/
[19] lifecycle: http://www.inhabitat.com/2008/07/15/roland-cernats-energy-efficient-oriens-glider/
[20] craft: http://www.inhabitat.com/tag/industrial-design/
[21] English Russia: http://englishrussia.com/?p=2631
[22] Treehugger: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/04/really-cool-wooden-gadgets-from-russia.php
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