Perhaps it explains why making a briquette look dark by addi little charcoal sells it far faster than a normal agro residue blend that might perform just as well ! Richard Stanley www.legacyfound.org
Sent from my iPhone On Mar 22, 2013, at 19:25, "teri.bhopal" <[email protected]> wrote: > Appearances do matter! In rural India, where I work, I've noticed a tendency > among households to choose products which look more characteristic of city > life. I've seen households preferring to buy a costlier stove which bears the > likeness of a gas-stove, to a cheaper and more efficient stove which looks > like a plain grill. I have always wanted to explore the importance of design > and external appearance on stove acceptance and adoption, but could not come > across a lot of literature on the subject. However, I'm sure rural users > evaluate each stove in a matrix of criteria (which varies widely among > communities), and stove appearance does figure high in the list. > > Regards, > > Arun Sreekumar > The Energy and Resources Institute > > > On 23 March 2013 06:08, Cecil Cook <[email protected]> wrote: >> Building on Marc's point, I have found in a number of circumstances it makes >> sense for the new thing to masquerade as the old thing even though it >> embodies many innovations. My experience is with a range of village >> technologies including stoves. >> >> Also, beauty in in the eye of the collective beholder. What I consider >> beautiful, someone else considers ugly or ungraceful. One element that may >> tie beauty and functionality together with economics is the concept of >> cultural 'branding' by which I mean if the technos looks traditional, it >> gets a name and immediately becomes familiar and even trustworthy. The >> trick is to incorporate innovations in a way that leaves enough of the old >> appearance in tact so that a product can use the old brand and name. >> >> That way the new thing becomes the old thing and visa versa. I believe it >> is helpful for modern western people and powerful professionals to restrain >> the understandable urge to remake the world according to their 'modern' >> ethos and aesthetics of the moment, but let's face it ... there are many >> convert and overt wars going on under the disguise of globalization. >> >> Here in Indonesia where I am at this moment, I have the perception that the >> incredibly dense self governing urban villages - called Kampongs - in its >> cities have discovered the social, economic and political institutions that >> are desperately needed in places like the South Bronx in New York, the >> collapsed inner city areas of Detroit and the South side of Chicago. >> >> We have to study the old thing very carefully before we decide that it looks >> ugly. >> >> In search, >> Cecil Cook >> >> On Fri, Mar 22, 2013 at 9:40 PM, Marc-Antoine Pare <[email protected]> >> wrote: >>> Yeah, I've always thought this was an interesting conversation. >>> >>> One anecdote: >>> In designing gasifiers for rural brick-makers, I found that "ugly" in the >>> sense of "looks industrial" was not necessarily a bad thing: the operators >>> and mechanics were happy to see that the device looked like something they >>> were familiar with. Hence, they could maintain it, modify it, etc. >>> >>> Of course, this was a product for small industry, not for consumers. >>> The same reasoning may not hold for a household customer. >>> >>> -marc >>> >>> >>> On 3/22/13 12:22 PM, Josh Kearns wrote: >>>> Thought stovers would like to know of a parallel conversation going on in >>>> the WASH sector.... >>>> >>>> http://www.source.irc.nl/page/77512 >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> -- >>>> Josh Kearns >>>> PhD Candidate, Environmental Engineering >>>> University of Colorado-Boulder >>>> Visiting Researcher, North Carolina State University >>>> >>>> Director of Science >>>> Aqueous Solutions >>>> www.aqsolutions.org >>>> >>>> Mobile: 720 989 3959 >>>> Skype: joshkearns >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> Stoves mailing list >>>> >>>> to Send a Message to the list, use the email address >>>> [email protected] >>>> >>>> to UNSUBSCRIBE or Change your List Settings use the web page >>>> http://lists.bioenergylists.org/mailman/listinfo/stoves_lists.bioenergylists.org >>>> >>>> for more Biomass Cooking Stoves, News and Information see our web site: >>>> http://www.bioenergylists.org/ >>>> >>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Stoves mailing list >>> >>> to Send a Message to the list, use the email address >>> [email protected] >>> >>> to UNSUBSCRIBE or Change your List Settings use the web page >>> http://lists.bioenergylists.org/mailman/listinfo/stoves_lists.bioenergylists.org >>> >>> for more Biomass Cooking Stoves, News and Information see our web site: >>> http://www.bioenergylists.org/ >>> >>> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Stoves mailing list >> >> to Send a Message to the list, use the email address >> [email protected] >> >> to UNSUBSCRIBE or Change your List Settings use the web page >> http://lists.bioenergylists.org/mailman/listinfo/stoves_lists.bioenergylists.org >> >> for more Biomass Cooking Stoves, News and Information see our web site: >> http://www.bioenergylists.org/ >> >> > > > > -- > Project Management Unit > The Energy and Resources Institute > A-93, Janki Nagar, Chuna Bhatti > Kolar Road, Bhopal - 462 013 > Madhya Pradesh > Ph: +91-755-4045354 > _______________________________________________ > Stoves mailing list > > to Send a Message to the list, use the email address > [email protected] > > to UNSUBSCRIBE or Change your List Settings use the web page > http://lists.bioenergylists.org/mailman/listinfo/stoves_lists.bioenergylists.org > > for more Biomass Cooking Stoves, News and Information see our web site: > http://www.bioenergylists.org/ >
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