Archive for the 'Contemporary Stuff' Category

Abandoned prams worry us here at Pram Watch, so you can imagine our concern when images like the one below came to our attention.  However, no prams were hurt during the experiment, and babies may have been helped, in the cosmic sense.  So we’re totally on board, after all.  This is a picture of people responding (and not) to the wails of a crying baby, which are emanating from the blue pram:

Only there’s no baby.  That pram is “UNICEF blue”, and inside is a sound system, hollering away.  It’s an campaign, apparently from last winter (March 2009) ,  meant to raise awareness, in Finland, of UNICEF’s commitment to children.  Concerned passersby who peeked into the unattended prams (there apparently were 15 of them, scattered across the country) saw a note:  ““By supporting UNICEF anyone can be a mother to them, for just a moment” (or something like that — I’m in no position to parse Finnish).

Interesting experiment, no?  Apparently no one tracked bystander involvement, because that wasn’t the point, but at least one blog reported (yeah, this is all hearsay, since, as noted above, I can’t read Finnish) that

Media and public reaction was overwhelming. They flooded all the major TV, radio and web news. Estimated media reach was over 80% of Finnish population after 2 days.

80% of the population?!  Those are better-than-super-bowl numbers!   Would it work in the USA?  I think not.   I’m guessing that Finns are more likely to check on crying infants who have apparently been abandoned in the snow.  I’m thinking it’s a smaller, friendlier place.  And a colder one.

See the movie!

Read a slightly snarky take here. Everybody’s a critic.

New Zealander Steven Procter designs pulpits and lecterns for churches, but in 2007 he won the design report award for “Newcomer of the Year” at Milan’s Salone Satellite.  He won, in part, for this sleek and simple stroller:

It’s probably not much on shock-absorption, but minimalism doesn’t get much better than this.   Even better, it folds thin enough to fit in a New York apartment:

Not to mention that it stands alone, too.

The award announcement says that “he designed an all in one high chair, pram, cot, changing table and clothes horse which can be folded away and easily transported” but this seems to be a translation error.  It looks as if Procter designed an impressive number of  nursery iems that can be flat-folded — not one item that converts to many.  Which in no way reduces the cool factor.

Via:  kidsmodern

It’s a stroller!  It’s a trike!  It’s all things to all men (and women)!.  Ah, those wacky Dutch.  For a mere $3,000 (USD) or so, you can purchase “continuity”:

For Taga, no location is impossible, no change a hassle. Whether indoors or out, on the bus, train or elevator, Taga is effortlessly transformed to suit any location to offer seamless mobility. We at Taga simply call it continuity. This is the limitless liberty a parent enjoys all day, leaving home with a single vehicle while enjoying quality time with their child at all times.

The Taga converts, seemingly endlessly (and, apparently, without adding or removing parts).  True geeks, click on the “conversion” link on the Taga website and click through the process.  It’s acrobatic genius!

You ride together to the train station, convert Taga to a stroller and jump on the train. When reaching the central station, you convert Taga again to a bike and ride to the city park.

And that’s only the beginning.  Go to the site.  You’ll be amazed.  Yes, we’re mad about the idea, but, let’s face it, the cost is horrendous, and the utility dubious.  Unless it’s your primary vehicle, of course.  Then it’s a deal.

Wierdly, there are dozens and dozens of pictures on the site, but there does not seem to be a  single uncluttered shot  that shows the trike in use, with kid installed, with both front wheels completely visible.  There does appear to be a gent in a business suit who is riding in the stroller – but you can’t actually see the Taga in the picture.   Go figure.