At 7:40 AM -0400 10/14/98, John Winters wrote: >Designers, like boats, come in all kinds of shapes, sizes and objectives. >Some design just what they like assuming or hoping that the world will >agree with them and buy lots of their boats. Some design just what the >customers orders and if the market rejects it they shrug their shoulders >and say, "Well, you asked for it." Some try to do what passes for market >research in a small business sort of way and then try to create a boat that >will fit the results. Some decide what the customer should have and then >create it. If it doesn't sell they assume the customer lacks the knowledge >or sophistication to recognise its infinite perfection. I will confess to designing a boat to fit in a display space I had at a show. I'm not too proud of this reason, but it did get me to design a 10' long boat. Don't forget the influence of tradition. As has been demonstrated on this list, any deviation from traditional greenland style will cause complaints. Innovation is frowned upon by the consumer public. A radical new idea requires a lot of marketing to convince buyers that the innovation is worthwhile (assuming it is). Why go through all the trouble when, if you stick to a design that is not much different from what is already successful, you can lean on tradition to do most of your marketing. Then all you have to say is "My boat is just like the Nordapp only better because it is an inch longer/shorter/wider/narrower, this makes it more-stable/faster/more-manuverable/comfortable/lighter/stronger/better-looking" . This is not just laziness on the part of the designer or consumer, although that can be a factor. Good designs rarely come from radical departures from tradition. They are more often a result of slow evolution and tweeking of previously successful ideas in an effort to make them "better". The transition from a skin-on-frame Inuit boat to a squirt boat did not happen in one step. It was a series of little "improvements". Yet for all the "improvement" you couldn't sell a squirt boat to a 19th century Inuit, he would have no idea what it was good for and wouldn't be about to shell out a years worth of hunting and gathering to find out. But, I bet with a little practice a 19th century Inuit in a squirt boat would be pretty radical on the WW rodeo circuit not too mention flat water racing. Nick Schade Guillemot Kayaks c/o Newfound Woodworks, 67 Danforth Brook Rd, Bristol, NH 03222 (603) 744-6167 Schade_at_guillemot-kayaks.com http://www.guillemot-kayaks.com/ >>>>"It's not just Art, It's a Craft!"<<<< *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************Received on Wed Oct 14 1998 - 09:10:32 PDT
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