Creative Commons
“The only difference between men and boy’s is the size of their toys”, or so goes the cliche. However, I think in today’s economy of “Cool” that the difference has more to do in relative price and not so much size. Everything we have, or likely find desirable either has to be bigger or smaller. The rhetoric of size on things is quite telling. The point is, is that it does not have to be bigger. Take for instance, automobiles, either you want a big one (SUV) or a smaller one (sports car). Now, these are of course gross generalizations but as a general rule of thumb; desirable things are either larger, or smaller. Women’s sunglasses…”I’ll take the great big ones that make me look like a bug”, or shoes (so small or falsely shaped so as to be nearly impossible to wear with any semblance of comfort.
Cell phones pose a particular conundrum. Either we want them to be bigger (like an iPhone) which ultimately we still want to be small…but big enough to be “cool” for watching movies and the likes. The average viewing screen should be bigger to be desirable (I’m still waiting on that 65’’ LED television).
The iPad is an interesting bled of aesthetics. It is much larger than a cell phone, which until the smart phone’s came around, were getting smaller and smaller every year. Yet it is somewhat large, but not very large. I suspect that this moderation is more purpose driven though Apple always seems to manage producing sleek products.
These thoughts were seeded in a discussion with a friend who is writing about writing about the rhetoric of “Cute” . It’s interesting stuff.
