Daniel Flahiff Writing for  The Inhabitant has an interesting post describing the design of an Amphibious Trike invented by David Buchwaldek.

What makes the design interesting and fun is the rudder and propeller at the rear of the vehicle to propel and steer while navigating water.  A trike with shell make a very light and aerodynamically efficient vehicle that takes little energy to move from point A to point B.   This  fun design is one step closer to a really useful commuting vehicle with different design goals.

Weather keeps many people from commuting via bicycle a large portion of the year in many climates.      The shell serves dual duty keeping wind, rain, and snow at bay while reducing wind drag.   What this design is missing is lightweight versions of the basic luxuries found in a modern automobile.  Every item added would add weight, and thus the energy required to move the vehicle, thus any additions must have a clear purpose and make the overall design more usable.

The electric hybrid assist is brilliant, and is a must keep.  That one big hill on the way to work is no longer a problem.  Keeping the battery charged while pedaling makes other design choices possible.  Wrapping the body in lightweight solar cells might also help.  Adding a plug in to top off the battery while parked from AC is also a must.

As a commuter the first thing to delete is the rudder and propeller.  In the US anyway, there are not many people that need to cross small bodies of water, and this design is too slow to cross large bodies of water.  There existence is great in a fun vehicle (and personally would love to have), but simply dead weight for the majority of commuters.

Climate controls would make commuting viable many days with otherwise foul weather.  I believe very small heating and cooling systems that operate off battery power should be added, with a thermostat and timer.  Imagine having the vehicle plugged into your garage AC overnight, and a half hour before you leave for your daily commute the timer turns on the climate controls and warms up the cockpit for your use.

The design also needs a complements of lights.  LED turn signals would help mingle among other motorized traffic.  A bright flashing LED strobe mounted on the roof would make the vehicle more visible.   LED headlights and tail lights would allow night operation.

We have seen many vehicles that move a person very efficiently from one place to another.  The hybrid drive and weatherproof cockpit are one more step toward a truly useful mostly human powered everyday commuting vehicle in places that mass transit would not work.

Before the web became widely adopted the yellow phone book was “the source” for local business information.  When people required the services  of a new business it was the first place they searched.

When the internet started gaining momentum and users, the Yellow Pages management viewed the web as an add on product to the big printed book that was the core of their business.  They lacked the vision to see the day that the web would replace a printed book for most consumers.  Instead of building for the future they took the immediate profits from add on sales, forgoing the long term strategic advantage.

With a lack of vision they asked businesses to pay an exorbitant monthly fee to show up in the online search results of their obscure pages.  Many  if not most refused, making the online version irrelevant.

Most devices have standardized on USB for charging. It makes charging and data transfer a snap with one simple port. With the depth of penetration it only makes sense that automobiles also provide a means of power.

Creative manufacturers could provide additional interactions, for example allowing entertainment to play through the automobile stereo system.

The old power adapter designed to light cigarettes in automobiles is showing its age, and needs replaced with a new standard. Instead of developing something from scratch automobile manufacturers could easily adapt USB power outlets.

The primary problem with cigarette power outlets is their size and reliability. The large size limits the amount of adapters available and the possible suitable locations to conveniently locate them. The connection was not designed as a power source is often temperamental and unreliable in that role.

The auto industry or an interested third party could easily develop a new standard from scratch, but adapting the USB standard has many advantages.

• Designed as a power outlet and thus more reliable.
• Simple to implement for power only.
• OEM and Third party power cords readily available at low costs.
• Allows creative extensions (i.e. play music from mobile device).

When the auto industry stumbled many bloggers and zines penned articles stating that the industry needs a visionary driver similar to Apple’s Steve Jobs. If Jobs was at the helm of a manufacturer the legacy cigarette connectors would already be relegated to their initial purpose, and only as an expensive build to order smoking accessory option.

The entire UI and all the apps are written in javascript, which in essence means the source code is available for you to modify at will, without recompiling anything.

Hardware is easy to copy, especially when you have a working example to tear apart.  The expense is in designing and testing the hardware not the actual hardware itself.  Early tear down reports are estimating hardware costs in the $140 to $170 range.

Software is much more difficult to copy.  Witness the myriad iPhone copies that have equal and sometimes arguably better (if using a checklist to compare) hardware specifications, such as the Hiphone T32.  Without access to iPhone, software clone makers are relegated to using the aging Microsoft Mobil OS.

Apple’s iPhone OS, Google’s Android OS, and now the Palm Pre differentiate on software and the subsequent usability, not simply bolting on the latest hardware.  It is the concert of software, hardware, and services all working in tandem to produce a truly great usability experience that consumer’s desire.

Google has developed Android OS as an alternative but to date the hardware and software combination’s lack inspiration.  This may change soon with many phones under development.  Google has made the source code for Android OS downloadable with an open source license and customizable.  It certainly has the potential to dominate the phone market the way windows has on the PC side for this reason alone.  It also has the potential to splinter and destroy the user experience.

Palm has made the source code easy to copy and extend, although not licensed to legally do so via open source.  Personally, I’m curious if Pre clones will start showing up with genuine Pre software, able to use the same services such as the Palm App store.

Around the first of the year, we purchased a Kodak Zi6 video camera that shoots 720p h.264 high def video on SD cards.  For the first time ever, the camcorder is often in a pocket and therefore handy for when those timeless moments happen.  The lack of zoom or other features  cannot offset the convenience factor for us.  The digital files are simple to move onto a computer for quick editing.  Fun * 2.

Apparently, we are not alone as 9 of the 10 best selling camcorders on Amazon are similar pocketable camcorders from Flip, Kodak, and Creative Labs.

The 720p resolution leads to a unique problem… how to distribute our best video to friends and family?  After a few hours researching with Google and chatting with friends,  the problem is still considerable.

The most obvious answer is Blu Ray.  None of our laptops have a Blu Ray burner and upgrading is cost prohibitive.  If we were able to burn the discs a quick pole revealed only one member of our family has a Blu Ray player (PS3).  While HD televisions are becoming commonplace in our family, none are even considering purchasing a Blu Ray player in the near future.  Perhaps in a year or two this will become a viable option, but it is not today.

I assumed that a stopgap format was developed to play 720p video on normal DVD discs using the up converting DVD hardware.   Several members of our family have purchased up converting DVD players to go with their new televisions.  With the hardware becoming common,  all that is needed is the correct software loaded into the firmware.

After hours of research, the closest I could find was Divx HD.  A visit to the website revealed the latest Divx version 7 utilized the same h.264 codec as our camcorder and most other high definition devices.  A quick glance near our television revealed that even our personal up converting DVD player has a Divx logo on the front.  Quickly my hopes were dashed upon discovering that not a single DVD player on Amazon will play the high definition version (Divx HD).  It appears Divx was slow developing a very obvious solution

I was really hoping for a  solution built by the open source community or Quicktime.  I fear the open source community was a non start (or was unable to find).  I really didn’t expect forward looking Apple to develop a near term solution using Quicktime.

Perhaps looking to “shiny discs” as a distribution method is simply too dated?  We re-purposed an old computer with an upgraded graphics card and new hard drive into an inexpensive media player.   With a $9 Nnetflix subscription, Boxee (Alpha), and Hulu, we canceled our cable subscription.  I have read countless blog posts on utilizing Apple TVs, Mac Mini’s, Xbox’s, PS3’s, and even $100 dedicated media players to fill a similar task.  However, a quick poll of our family revealed our household stood alone, ruling out simply distributing the 720p files on digital media.

To date we have “punted” and given our friends and acquaintances (i.e. teachers) old fashioned DVD’s with downscaled video.  It is disheartening knowing the video  is downgraded to approximately half its native resolution.  At this time, a better solution has yet to present itself.

One common argument is that not everyone can afford a *real* laptop, but can afford a netbook, especially in the current economic climate.  You could make the very same comparison with the Aveo starting at $12,685, roughly half the price of the average automobile.

Another argument is that a netbook is all that most people really need, with the ability to surf the net, write a blog, or open the occasional text document.  The Aveo fills that role in the automobile world as well, with most people really just needing to move a few people, and perhaps some light luggage  from one place to another.  Most people simply lack the need to haul heavy loads or lots of people, at least in their second or third vehicle.

While the Aveo is functional, it is simply not a great user experience.  The small size makes using the vehicle cumbersome.  Similar to the user experience of small cramped keyboards and screen real estate that makes having two documents open side by side challenging.  They are functional but the race to reduce costs requires many compromises that also reduce the user experience.

Mercedes and Apple have both built brands that users expect a great user experience and quality products when they see the logo.  Producing lower quality inferior products for the masses they jeopardize losing the brand and its selling power (value).  Branding it the first reason Apple should not build a netbook as we know it.

The second reason is Profit.  Both Mercedes and Apple are for profit companies.  They have built the brand images and quality products that allow them to sell at above average margins.  Without even looking I am positive GM makes sub par earnings on the Aveo.   Netbooks are sold at razor thin margins by companies hoping that volume will lead to a meager profit.

There is simply no good reason to follow the masses and enter a market that jeopardizes the brand and makes sub par profits.  This is why the smart pundits are betting on Apple reinventing the category if and when they do enter, creating something similar to what I wrote about here.

I believe most of these writers really want an Apple but can not afford one, and therefore digress to whining about it on their blog.  I would really like to buy a new Mercedes for $13,000, but it is simply not going to happen unless mercedes invents a totally new concept of  a simple but high quality vehicle to move people from place to place, sold at a profitable margin.