While the makers of the Wheelmate Steering Wheel Desk Tray (a desk that attaches to your steering wheel "for easy access to a writing and drink storage surface") warn consumers that they ought not use this product while driving, "for safety reasons," users of Amazon.com have lit up switchboard at the product's Amazon Customer Image Gallery and Customer Reviews section, registering their views on the fatuousness of this warning, and on the danger of this product design more generally. It's an unusually great moment for Amazon customer feedback working as a vehicle for social critique.

Oh, did I mention it's damn funny?

Some Choice Customer Images

Some Choice Customer Reviews

These worked great in the cockpit for our tanscontinental flights!, November 4, 2009

My copilot and I both used these during our "daily grind" transcontinental flights from San Diego to Minneapolis. We had to modify them a bit to fit snug against the instrument panels (when we bought them we didn't realize the planes we fly don't have steering wheels!), but in the end it did the job. With our laptops firmly in place we were able to focus our attention on what really mattered, participating in raids with our WoW clan. During our last flight we were so immersed in trying to take down Eranikus that we overshot Minneapolis by a full hour and a half before some annoying flight attendant interrupted us, babbling something about "FAA and F16 fighters."

We'll definitely use this product again at our next gig, whatever and whenever that happens to be...

Highly recommended!

Amazing! Holds my sheet music perfectly while driving., May 7, 2009

This has been a total lifesaver. It allows me to prop my sheet music against the wheel, allowing me to play the guitar with both hands while driving.

Makes a boring drive easier, November 19, 2009

You wouldn't believe how much more interesting my commute is now that I have something to do other than just stare out the window! I'm using it right now to post this review and I never

Derrick Kuzak, Ford's product development chief, told reporters on Jan. 4 that "we are intent on maintaining leadership in this kind of connectivity. We saw people becoming addicted to connectivity and we saw increased use of these devices inside the car and we connected the dots."

...Ford said it's augmenting Sync with the ability to convert incoming texts into spoken words. It will offer drivers 15 standard text responses that can be sent with a voice command. Ford is still researching the ability to convert speech to a text message, said Jim Buczkowski, its director of electronics.

And, in perhaps the best moment of bad design decision rationalization of 2010 so far:

Most of the industry studies show that just driving and just talking is the same," Kuzak said. "As long as the customer's eyes are on the road, they are not compromised.

Image via Geekologie

Via Core77

Meet the new drink, same as the old drink

I'm not a big fan of the redesigned Pepsi logo. Find me someone who is.

It seems like it was changed just for the sake of change and at the wrong time. Is now the right time to reinvent the brand? When people are struggling, is that what we need to see-- a little bit of cosmetic surgery? How does that improve the product or make the customer's life better?

Moreover, the new brand has been completely undermined for me ever since I saw this image:

Drawing by Lawrence Yang

Now, every time I see a new Pepsi, I see a drooling fat guy. It makes me yearn even more for the for the svelte profile of the old logo.

Pepsi's Gravitational Farse

I'm not quite sure what to think of this:

Yes, the Pepsi gravitational field certainly does suck.

Someone seems to have leaked a document that contains the advertiser's pitch for the new Pepsi brand. The New York Post describes its content thusly:

The document, called "Breathtaking Design Strategy," is littered with historical, philosophical, scientific and mathematical ideas dating back to 3000 BC. It references the Golden Ratio, Feng Shui and Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity.

At one point, the presentation compares "Planet Pepsi" to the Earth's magnetic pull, with diagrams showing Pepsi as the gravitational force between the end of the aisle and the checkout stand.

And it doesn't stop there. The beverage goes from being the center of the Earth to the center of the universe.

It's either a brilliant Andy Kaufman-style marketing campaign or shocking evidence that advertising has run off the rails. The description of the project seems too crazy to be real; like it has to be a joke. If it is, then "leaking" the document onto social aggregators to generate buzz is genius. The creators, Arnell Group, haven't demanded the removal of the documents, but then again, the cat's out of the bag. Taking it off the Internet would be impossible at this point.

Many seem to think it is legitimate. If that is true, then it seems to be an embarrassment. Even other advertisers are shaking their heads. Why would an a firm make something like this for a client? If the public would respond negatively to the brief, is it really a good idea?

Throwback a Pepsi

Image via.

Pepsi's plan to release a cane sugar version in the US could be a good product. Many people say cane sugar soda tastes better and is better for you because it doesn't use corn syrup. Doesn't that seem like a quantitatively better product?

But, alas, it has a crappy brand. What kind of name is "throwback"? It makes it sound anachronistic or worse, like something you'd throw away. And that packaging looks awful. It's like they really don't want people to buy non HFCS drinks.