I spent last Sunday afternoon browsing Daiso, a Japanese dollar store (technically $1.50) that sells a variety of home wares. I picked up some cute earphones, which are just one of many tech designs that are from or inspired by Japan that I'm fond of. Below are more details on the Colorful Beans earphones, along with four other of my favorite tech designs from Japan.
Colorful Beans Earphones: Unfortunately the earphones aren't carried online, so we'll have to direct you to your nearest Daiso store to get these. For $1.50, these earphones are worth every penny. We like that they come in fun colors, have a longer cord than your standard Apple earphones, and fit very comfortably.
Wall Mounted CD Player: A former colleague had this CD player in his office, and I've often admired how its simple design would compliment the rest of the room. Muji's Wall Mounted CD Player is meant to be mounted on a wall with the cable hanging down. To play the CD or listen to FM radio, simply pull the cable. The volume and search controls are placed on top of the player, which also has speakers built into the body. It also comes with a remote control to play or stop the music so you don't have to be next to the cable to control it.
USB in a Bottle: How pretty is this USB stick? The idea of a USB in a bottle is clever, and along with storing your average 2 GBs, this USB is also a nice accessory to showcase on your desk. We love the packaging it comes in as well.
Pantone Phones: Design geeks are probably super envious of these Pantone phones by Softbank. They come in 8 Pantone colors, have a bunch of nifty wallpaper widgets, and are waterproof. The biggest buzz around these phones is that they can detect radiation.
Keyboard Memo Pad: Often I've been left Post-its from coworkers letting me know I got a phone call or email while away from my desk. Muji makes this more fun with these keyboard memo pads that indicate things like "call", "email", or "urgent" on the memo, and are designed so the memo can be folded and placed on a keyboard.
(Images: as credited above)
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what is this "CD" you speak of?
Oh, I love Daiso! I try to get to the large store in San Francisco's Japantown at least once a month.
TRAVISLESSNESS, a CD is an ancient form of "technology" for listening to previously recorded audio. If you can imagine, people used to have to PHYSICALLY CARRY music from place to place. AND, you had to play it on machines that were specifically designed for ONLY CD's. And get this: even on the day CD's died out, they could only hold 700mb worth of data!
LOL, @jr_b17 and @travislessness! I own a lot of those circular thingamajigs and would love to score that wallmounted player. Wonder if it's available in Canada.
Re: the wall-mounted CD player.
We once stayed in an amazing B&B (called a hotel) on the Danish island of Bornholm owned and run by a talented husband and wife design team. Their place has been featured several times on AT, and is a showcase of great design.
One of my favourite elements are their use of wall-hung CD players... The Muji CD players are hung in the bathrooms (shared by all guests). Just pull the chord, and get music to shower by or... Well, let's just say it's a brilliant concept.
Is that a rubik cube without colors on the shelf?
sorry, but the usb-stick in the bottle is just silly. it takes up space without adding anything.
(love the CDplayer and the post-its, though ...)
sorry, but i thnk the usb-stick in he bottle is just silly.
love the cd-player and the post-its, though.
(if this is a double post, i apologise ... my other post doesn't show.)
Big love for Daiso! A friend just turned me onto that store and I ADORE it. If you have one in your area, grab some cash and RUN to it!