> I can happily say that he looks amazing for his age (80) now. He's wearing a Braun BN0035 [1] in black by the way.

Huh, that's a beautiful watch, though too expensive for my taste. Did Rams design it? It reminds me to pay closer attention to Braun's objects for their design. This watch was designed in 2012, and here I thought Braun's design heydey was the 60s...

[1] http://www.braun-clocks.com/watch/BN0035

God, that Braun website is terrible... I'd love to have a crack at making it an amazing piece of design - there is sooooo much you could do with it!

> Dieter Rams complained that the word “design” was ruined by the fashion industry and marketing. They sell products as “designer products” that aren’t necessarily good representations of good design. He suggested that we be called “Gestalt Engineers” - Gestalt is the German word for "form" or "shape".

Loved this line and the term "gestalt engineer".

Should be Gestaltingenieur.

More like "Gestaltungingeneur". But I think what Rams says is right. Here in Germany the misuse of the term design is even bigger I would say.

Oh, it would need to be "Gestaltungsingenieur". But Gestalt is a proper word in German by now, thanks to Mr Jung and friends. See eg https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gestaltpsychologie

Oh, German words!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcMT395UvWI

> [He] cautioned that computers should not be allowed to have input into our thoughts.

What does he mean? He disapproves of brain-computer interfaces? Google Glass? Our distraction-based use of them (Facebook, Reddit, HN...) ?

Or as a way of redisigning (sorry) our interaction with the world around us? If this is what he means, I strongly disagree with him: computers are probably the most powerful tool we've ever invented, and we're just beginning to understand how we can integrate them well in our lives.

Yeah, I would have liked more exposition on that point as well. Earlier, when talking about product design he says, "We wanted to change the world," so it would have been interesting to worry the tooth a little over modern technical innovation (computing, software, robotics, to name three), as I'd be surprised if he was dismissing it all out of hand.

I took it in exactly the same way as his comments on cars. To get them to perform the task you want them to do you need to have amassed knowledge of how their underlying systems work, and as a user a lot of your time is spent balancing those systems.

I can clearly see the return of his ideas such as "less but better" into many aspects of our lives, now and in following decade. People in West are overwhelmed by abundance - cheap clothes designed to be sold in quantities such as H&M that don't last to long or information overflow on the web and media. This trend of less but more is already emerging outside of web and tech.

Dieter Rams talking about Apple from the documentary Objectified.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahtHKCQUD2k