Tag: Writing

  • Taipei Times – Mac v Vista

    My latest article for the Taipei Times is out, and hopefully this gives me a few weeks of relaxation – the last couple of months have been rather overloaded (in more ways than one).

    One thing I hoped to do was introduce very briefly some of the changes to the Chinese input systems on both of the product – but this is potentially an entire article in itself – now there is an idea! Enjoy.

    Taipei Times – Mac OS X ‘Leopard’ v Microsoft Windows Vista

  • Pure Insight – Innovation in Asia

    Last night, working with Mark Stocker at DDG, we conducted a second online seminar with Pure Insight. Unlike the bulk of their presentations (far more McKinsey in style, with lots of graphs and metrics and other things to lean on) we kept it much more conversational and anecdotal. Unlike the previous session, this ‘Members Only Call’ allowed people to call in with their questions. It really felt like a radio show!

    Pure Insight – Innovating in the East: Managing Teams and Partnerships in Asia

    … and the good news is, that’s the last of the major commitments I have made in the last few months coming home. I think I will give myself a bit of a breather, and allow some space for some more Chinese homework!

  • Taipei Times – GPS

    Here is my latest article for the Taipei Times.

    This month I have mostly been testing … GPS

    Find it here.

  • Love & Money

    Government support for exporting design in the UK is pretty strong, and the efforts landed in Taiwan last week, with the ‘Love & Money’ show rolling into town. Basically, a show case of the British creative industries, it showcased work from, among others, Zaha Hadid, Sam Hecht, Thomas Heatherwick and Jamie Hewlett. The work was supported by the de-facto embassy, British Council, British Trade & Industry and Design UK.

    The two week event culminated with a Pecha Kucha show and I was invited to speak alongside Sam Hecht of Industrial Facility and Benjamin Chia of Elemental Eight – previously Designafairs USA.

    The basic format is, 20 seconds for each slide, with a total of 20 slides, creating a total of 6 minutes 40 seconds – and you have no control over the slides. Believe me, a badly rehearsed presentation makes the 6 minutes feel like an eternity, while a good show flies by in a flash. The rock and roll of presentations!


    Pecha Kucha night Taipei


    Keeping the ladies awake – what are you looking at, David?


    It’s all just hot air, really


    I had some important points to make – and thanks to Abe for the great photos!

    I am trying out the Slideshare service, in order to publish the results. See what you think!

    http://s3.amazonaws.com/slideshare/ssplayer2.swf?doc=pecha-kucha-jonathan-biddle-1193068225935190-4

  • Pure Insight – Outsourcing Innovation

    Last week, amongst trying to relax with the family, I hosted an online ‘Webinar’ for a company called Pure Insight. The title? “The Next Logical Step? Outsourcing Your Innovation to Asia

    I have used online meeting tools a fair amount in the past, but this was the first time I was driving a session, with a group of listeners around the world, and with no feedback except an MSN Messenger-style window.

    It was quite a tense build-up, but the session went pretty well, and I’ll be back next month for some more in-depth discussion with a few members.

  • Taipei Times – Back Up

    Latest Article in the Taipei Times, this time talking about different back up hardware. Enjoy!

    Taipei Times – Technology Review

  • Taipei Times – Lamborghini V Ferrari

    My second piece published for the Taipei Times, evaluating the Ferrari Acer notebook and Williams Optics binoculars, versus the Asus Lamborghini notebook computer.

    I am rapidly running out of cool Taiwanese technology to review, so if anyone has any ideas do let me know!

    Taipei Times Review

  • Taipei Times – Technology Review

    I have not been posting much of late – mainly because I have been writing more for print, and today I have my first newspaper article to write home about!

    It’s a piece about Taiwan’s response to the iPhone, and you can read it at the Taipei Times – the biggest English language newspaper in Taiwan, and one of the largest ‘native Chinese’ newspapers in the world:

    Taiwan Times – Technology Review

  • Design Week – Inspired

    I got asked back to do a second piece for Designweek magazine this week, in the ‘Inspired’ section of the magazine, next to the letters.

    They asked me for an interesting story related to design in Taiwan, so I had no choice but to select my legendary wedding ring design – check out the old posting here in ‘Lord of the Rings‘.

    Sadly, no direct link to their web site, but here is the text below:

    Inspired – ‘Lord of the Rings’

    Working in Taiwan, I deal with some pretty strange design briefs. My boss – great grandson of Generalissimo Chiang Kai Shek – appeared on a TV talk show and managed to lose a bet with the host. The forfeit? We had to design her a wedding ring.

    I am sure it seemed logical to assign a Brit Industrial Designer with zero jewellery experience, so I had a frantic two weeks of forging a concept. I met the celebrity couple and for the whole time they held hands, so I suggested that we cut a diamond in two and give half to each. I went one step further and mounted it on the inside; to show off the rock the ring had to be removed.

    Half the media were aghast at the concept – ‘cut a diamond in half?!’ – but the rest loved the irony that the reduced value of the jewel of course mattered little if they spent the rest of their lives together.

    Arriving at the workshop to inspect the pieces, I was a little shocked to meet camera crews from five TV stations and eight newspapers. “The cameras go live to Asia in one minute – please tell us about your concept…”

  • Cracking the Chinese Puzzle

    My first article for Design Week in the UK is published:

    Design Week – Cracking the Chinese Puzzle