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• In China, Human Costs Are Built Into an iPad
  The New York Times online article, 25 January
  In the last decade, Apple has become one of the most successful companies in the world, in part by mastering global manufacturing. Apple and its high-technology peers have achieved a pace of innovation nearly unmatched in modern history. However, the workers assembling iPhones, iPads and other devices often labour in harsh conditions. Problems are as varied as onerous work environments and serious - sometimes deadly - safety problems.
  Discussion starter:
  • Manufacturing Technology: ethical manufacturing - suppliers 'code of conduct'.
• How Kodak squandered every digital opportunity it had
  Stuff.co.nz technology posting, 24 January
  In the past 15 years, digital technology changed photography dramatically, and Kodak, a former heavyweight in the analog film business, got left behind.
  Discussion starters:
  • Nature of Technology: socio-cultural influences - innovative spirit; consumer trends; market forces
  • Intellectual property: asset value
  • Digital Technologies: photo sharing - 'the killer app'
• What's next for the extinct tech list?
  Stuff.co.nz technology posting, 23 January
  With the digital world making the Kodak moment a distant memory, what else is on the brink of technological extinction? Our telephone calls, photos, favourite TV shows, books and music can now all fit into our back pockets, so it's no surprise the endangered list is long.
  Discussion starter:
  • Nature of Technology: technological extinction
• The life and death of Megaupload.com
  TV3 News video, 20 January
  Megaupload.com was one of the world's largest file-sharing websites with more than 150 million registered users. It has been seized and shut down by the US Justice Department as part of the investigation into alleged copyright infringement in one of the biggest criminal copyright cases in the US.
  Discussion starters:
  • Digital technologies: Data storage and retrieval - 'File-locker' technology;
  • Intellectual property protection: anti-piracy legislation.
• Kodak goes under after 132 years
  TVNZ News video, 20 January
  The US-based operation of the Kodak corporation has filed for bankruptcy protection. The company last made a profit in 2007 and the number of employees has fallen from a peak of 130,000 to about 30,000. So what does this mean for the future of the Kodak brand?
  Discussion starters:
  • Innovation culture: changing business mode;s.
  • Intellectual property: licensing protection.
• Taupo in eco experiment
  Idealog Daily Bacon blog, 19 January
  Taupo could be in for a new eco-sustainable housing community, reshaping the way houses receive heat, electricity, water, and use wastewater. The New Zealand Clean Energy Centre (NZCEC) is currently investigating whether or not this would be feasible.
  Discussion starter:
  • Concept development: new housing subdivision - off grid sustainable lifestyle community
• How mens' shoes are made
  Stuff.co.nz video, 17 January
  Swiss leather goods company Bally has released photographs and video illustrating step-by-step how mens' shoes are made.
  Discussion starter:
  • Construction Technology: customised manufacture
• At CES, a Preview of Tomorrow's Wearable Computers
  MIT technology review feature, 17 January
  The Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas isn't just a place to see new products from gadget giants such as Samsung and Sony - it's also a place to see small companies with disruptive ideas that become big consumer technologies in the future.
  This year, several of the most promising small exhibitors were showing off glasses that can overlay digital data onto the world around us - technology that could free us from having to peer down at our mobile devices.
  Discussion starter:
  • Digital Technologies: augmented reality
• Madcap machine work goes viral
  The Press online article, 15 January
  The work of a New Zealand artist is a hit with millions of YouTube viewers, but he isn't quitting his day job, despite becoming an internet phenomenon. Joseph Herscher is the creator of a series of YouTube videos that have gone viral - the latest attracting more than two million hits in just a few days - inspired by the drawings of American cartoonist and inventor Rube Goldberg.
  Discussion starters:
  • Construction and Mechanical Technology: 'complex machines'
  • Design in Technology: good design / bad design
• Korean e-book technology offers glimpse of a more realistic reading experience
  Idealog Daily Bacon blog, 15 January
  New technology announced last week by the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) might herald a new era in virtual reading. Its Smart E-book System aims to incorporate all our favourite features of reading a real book, including allowing users to quickly flip through pages by sliding a finger from the bezel onto the screen, or vice versa.
  Discussion starters:
  • Digital Technologies : computer programming - "algorithm-based conversion technology"
  • Nature of Technology: technological extinction ?
• CES 2012: 3D printer makers' rival visions of future
  BBC.co.uk online article, 11 January
  With a whir and a click, the job is done. In the space of 20 minutes, a plastic bottle opener has been constructed by the Replicator - a 3D printing machine capable of making objects up to the size of a loaf of bread. 3D printing is nothing new - engineers and designers have been using it for more than two decades to create prototypes. What has changed is that the printers are now being pitched at consumers.
  Discussion starters:
  • Manufacturing technology: additive manufacturin
  • Design in Technology: digital design - open source access