i read the press release and watch the linked video interview
<http://www.dpreview.com/news/2012/02/02/Pentax_K-01_announcement#press>
alas the hype about visual aspects of the design and the reputation of the
designer is front and center, a huge mistake in my view
the interview with Mark Newson is helpful because as he handles the camera i
got a better impression of it; the camera looks fairly usable within the
constraints of "no viewfinder" and "not small" — those constraints are
challenging and i wish more had been made of them; there is more sense of the
handling in this video:
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-lSQlvqFKs>
however i was unimpressed with Newson's presentation; he didn't convince me of
his sincerity and dedication to the project, and i heard no real purity of
vision; i most respect designers whose foundation is philosophy and whose
mandate is functionality, such as some architects & typographers; there's a
thread of this purity i seek in some web design too; industrial design is
rarely so pure, though i think Apple has achieved a remarkable standard in
physical design; the K-01 (or as Newson says, kay-oh-one) is almost a statement
about making statements; a neo-modernist design with some major compromises
(rubber door?); if it shipped flat it might be an Ikea camera ...
Newson is not an in-house designer, and for this (presumably) one-off project
he probably had Pentax marketing breathing down his neck; he's used massive,
simple forms, which are promising — if those blocky controls are as functional
and durable as they signal, that will be something
but these two quotes from the interview seem shallow to me, and make me
suspicious of the whole project:
"the inspiration behind this design ... is simply the desire to want to create
something which, as a consumer, I myself would like to own, or would like to
purchase"
"I wanted to present an _image_ of quality, and of expertise" (emphasis mine)
in the following statement, if he had said "innovation" instead of
"individuality", i would have been more hopeful:
"i think the consumers will be happy that we've given them a choice,
because i don't see an enormous amount of _individuality_ in the marketplace"
(emphasis mine)
so that's my critique of the hype; i do also see some hope in the design, that
it may put a counterpoint to the chorus of "smaller is better"
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