Adding/Including Memories
I lost my dad last year (2023) and have been finding ways to include keepsakes/memories in my workstation. I've dabbled here and there with doing small woodworking projects and attempted a wrist rest from a piece of oak I picked up with him from my great uncles wood shop. I milled it to fit a 60% keyboard as I hadn't decided what keyboard I would be using it on and thought that's where most of my wrist would be in contact even typing on a full keyboard. I gave it a torched/burn appearance as I really was lost in what to do. I found an old shell casing from going hunting with my dad in my hunting pack and decided to imbed it into the end of the wrist rest so it would just have a little difference and a small story behind it as well. I have other things around my workstation from family and friends, but it just feels a little more special having worked on it and adding something small that has a memory for me to it. (Purple was my grandmothers favorite color and I have kinda now...
Apr 8, 2024
Yes, we could have built a lighted knife display box...but that wasn't the goal here, partly because you can already any number of knife storage or lighted display box products. LED lighting is an interesting idea, but adds a great dal of complexity and potentially some certification - both of which add cost, but may not be something everyone wants, especially as this sits on a surface as opposed to hanging from a wall. I am sure we will see members come up with some great modifications to individualize their boxes, and I look forward to that - same as we love seeing people take gray titanium and doing crazy anodizing that they love, but may not make sense to do for the whole group.
So yeah, I totally agree that it would be nice to have optional bells and whistles, but it's not like we're not selling 200,000 Toyotas per month (yet). But, if you can find 10,000 friends to come buy this, I bet we could not only make LEDs optional, but offer multiple colors for the lights and probably some different interior/exterior combinations. (That's a real number BTW, in terms of MOQ it would take to do things like this.) Regarding the modular thing, we did think ahead on that one and you might see in the copy that, if things go well, we'll offer a drawer that fits on the bottom which will be setup for more knives, or watches, or a combination. We could probably get a poll going for that and even see if there's enough interest in a pen drawer.
"Design by committee" usually ends badly, but you're right that smaller focus groups are good for qualitative guidance, and having large groups vote on specific things with multiple-choice options also helps to give quantitative support. Massdrop was built around Polls, but as the community has grown to a multi-million member platform and the business model has evolved to include Massdrop Made products, their utility has not kept up with our processes. We are developing tools that we hope will offer new ways of engaging community members in the design process, and this is a good reminder to follow up on it.
Appreciate your feedback and taking the time to offer some suggestions. We are growing, fast, and we'll continue to involve the community as much as possible, directly and indirectly, every step of the way.
Oh and plus one on a simple lock to keep the kiddos out, understand that might be extremely difficult with a modular design though.