Braun's Legendary ET66 Calculator Is Set For A Come Back

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If Steve Jobs was alive today, he would have probably acquired Germany-based Braun. Known for great industrial designs - from calculators to sophisticated pocket radios, the company enjoyed its supremacy in the late 80s.

 

Whatever Braun produced during early 90s were taken as an inspiration by Steve Jobs. Everyone knows that Jobs was so much obsessed with Sony, but very few are aware that Apple co-founder was equally compassionate towards Braun.

One such device that inspired Apple to was later used as calculator app (iOS). The Braun ET 66 calculator was the most visible device that Cupertino-based tech giant elegantly replicated in the form of an iOS app. The word on the street is that the makers behind ET 66 calculator are ready to release the very same model. The calculator device was launched in 1987. It will arrive sometime later this year.

Braun's Legendary ET66 Calculator Is Set For A Come Back

A press note taken from the official site says "Last but not least, the Basel Fair 2013 will witness the re-launch of the iconic ET66 calculator. This calculator is a replica of the iconic Braun ET66 version 2. All operations are carried out by using convex circular buttons. The Braun ET66 calculator is considered a quintessential example of the "less but better" philosophy".

The chief designer - Dieter Rams, who was credited with major innovative products at Braun, retired in 1998. For a company like Braun; he was Apple's chief designer Johny Inve. For 30 long years, Mr. Rams was the head of design at Braun A.G.

Here are the ten design principles of Dieter Rams (via Wikipedia).

For him, the good design:

Is innovative - The possibilities for progression are not, by any means, exhausted. Technological development is always offering new opportunities for original designs. But imaginative design always develops in tandem with improving technology, and can never be an end in itself.
Makes a product useful - A product is bought to be used. It has to satisfy not only functional, but also psychological and aesthetic criteria. Good design emphasizes the usefulness of a product whilst disregarding anything that could detract from it.
Is aesthetic - The aesthetic quality of a product is integral to its usefulness because products are used every day and have an effect on people and their well-being. Only well-executed objects can be beautiful.
Makes a product understandable - It clarifies the product's structure. Better still, it can make the product clearly express its function by making use of the user's intuition. At best, it is self-explanatory.
Is unobtrusive - Products fulfilling a purpose are like tools. They are neither decorative objects nor works of art. Their design should therefore be both neutral and restrained, to leave room for the user's self-expression.
Is honest - It does not make a product appear more innovative, powerful or valuable than it really is. It does not attempt to manipulate the consumer with promises that cannot be kept.
Is long-lasting - It avoids being fashionable and therefore never appears antiquated. Unlike fashionable design, it lasts many years - even in today's throwaway society.
Is thorough down to the last detail - Nothing must be arbitrary or left to chance. Care and accuracy in the design process show respect towards the consumer.
Is environmentally friendly - Design makes an important contribution to the preservation of the environment. It conserves resources and minimizes physical and visual pollution throughout the lifecycle of the product.
Is as little design as possible - Less, but better - because it concentrates on the essential aspects, and the products are not burdened with non-essentials. Back to purity, back to simplicity.

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