I\u2019d argue that the iPod ran but the Spotify Car Thing stumbled at its first steps. There wasn\u2019t a problem with design, people were actually lining up to buy Spotify Car Things\u2026 but there was certainly a problem with vision \u2013 something Daniek Ek (Spotify\u2019s CEO) can\u2019t stand toe to toe with Steve Jobs on. But here\u2019s the question \u2013 what if we just continued making these specialized music players? What would they look like. Designers at Steelworks put together a player so cool, I\u2019m sure Jony Ive would look at it proudly.<\/p>\n
Meet the SW-1, a player that embraces tradition but not traditional design. Watch the video above and you\u2019ll understand what vision they\u2019re going for. The conceptual player features an edge-to-edge display. The front fascia, which looks like metal, is actually a screen that comes to life when the display is maximized from its otherwise smaller container. Obviously, it\u2019s all a concept, but let\u2019s take a second to appreciate exactly how clean and beautiful the SW-1\u2019s design is, whether it\u2019s the sleekness, the handheld form factor, or the celebration of tactile controls even when you have touchscreens in today\u2019s day and age.<\/p>\n
Designers: Edin Agovic, Jordi Pag\u00e8s, Afonso Soares, Marcel Piekarski (Steelworks)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The comparison to the Spotify Car Thing comes from the SW-1\u2019s embracing of tactile controls. Aside from the touchscreen display (with a vibrant, minimal UI), there\u2019s a really chunky knurled metal knob at the bottom that works presumably the same way the volume knob on the Car Thing works. It also is a hat tip to most hi-fi audio players that lean heavily into that chunky volume knob to prioritize a rather important action. In the center is a button presumably for play\/pausing a track.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
There are two more buttons hidden away on the side, although one can only speculate what they\u2019re for. The rest of the device itself is almost dangerously sleek, measuring a mere few millimeters, and almost feeling reminiscent of the iPhone Air with how slim the entire device looks. The one key difference between the SW-1 and the iPod it models itself after is that it\u2019s designed to be used as a landscape player too. A kickstand on the back lets you prop the player sideways (again, like a Spotify Car Thing), while a speaker on the back fires out audio. There\u2019s a \u2018hint\u2019 of an aux input on the bottom, and what I can\u2019t really locate is any charging interface.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Ultimately, the SW-1 doesn\u2019t even attempt to be a real device. Look above the screen and you\u2019ll see the time \u2018etched\u2019 into the metal body. It\u2019s hard to conceive that the entire front panel is actually a display\u2026 although that\u2019s where concepts often take liberties. That being said, you could absolutely make a hi-fi music player as thin as this one. Borrow a smartphone battery, use a small display, machine everything out of aluminum, and you\u2019ve got yourself a fairly capable player that celebrates minimalism and futurism in a way that Steve Jobs would absolutely be a fan of.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The post This Futuristic iPod Boasts A Clean Minimal-Punk Design\u2026 And A Jogwheel<\/a> first appeared on Yanko Design<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I\u2019d argue that the iPod ran but the Spotify Car Thing stumbled at its first steps. There wasn\u2019t a problem with design, people were actually lining up to buy Spotify Car Things\u2026 but there was … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[16],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n