Amongst the many aisles of a department or grocery store, you will always or more often than not come across that one aisle with objects and whatnots covered in dust and worse, cobwebs. While the most common commodities such as food, candies, and liquors are being flooded by customers, the ones on the back usually are the neglected ones – the rejects. From old fashioned carbon papers, typewriters which I think nobody uses now ever since the age of the computers has begun, to polyester argyle dress socks that hung from plastic hooks.

It is a sad fact but all these products are now considered ugly, discomforting, difficult to use, and so useless that nobody will have ever wanted them – obsolete. But they were also the “in” thing 10 or 20 years ago! And ever since they rolled off the production, you will now see them rotting beneath flickering fluorescent lights, not given prior attention. Does this not make you wonder what makes one product relevant, useful and beautiful that it lasts decades; and yet another a fodder? What is it that makes one industrial design idea good and another bad?

It was taught in basic economics that the good products are the ones that consumers buy from manufacturers; and what makes an item last consists of not one but a lot of factors. It is like a spider web of form and function which allows an item to perform unmet needs, become outwardly attractive, handy, and efficient and effective. The good products have something in them that the bad ones don’t. The earlier items were made to fit the needs of the environment they came from – fishermen made hooks from bones to catch fish, foresters made arrows from wood to hunt preys. And later, as trade emerged between different cultures and countries, aesthetics became an important factor. Nowadays, if a product’s industrial design idea does not appeal to a consumer’s eye, it becomes ignored.

During the Industrial Revolution era, the price of items decreases as manufacturing processes increases. And by 1950, super industrialization has led to better production of goods thus making a more number available to more people. This was when trends ruled the industry. To keep cash flowing in, manufacturers have devised different ways of planned desuetude and created items in timely styles and fashions.

A good industrial design idea of a product revolves on how it works, the organization, manufacturing and thought that makes it feel just right. Before iPod came to the industry, for example, tons of MP3 players came out into the market – some of which are even more powerful than the iPod, cost less but were hard to use, unappealing to the eye and simply just does not make a lot of sense to many customers. Apple, the producer of iPod, took the time to think things over; gathered ideas based on the content of the MP3 players, reorganized them and developed a product that is not only pretty but convenient. The iPod out ruled the mp3 players not because of its technology but because of how it was designed.

If there is anything that we can take from the products of the past and the present, it is that the good ones exceed the physical appeal and the way its parts are put up. A good industrial design idea makes sense, bad ones do not. It is not what a product is made of that makes it a successful item in the market, it is the feel and comfort it offers the user. A product with a good industrial design idea makes us feel good.

The production of iPhone led to the development of an amazing mobile operating system which is iOS. Formerly known as iPhone OS, this mobile operating system went through continuous improvement and now the latest software known as iOS 5 has evolved which is incorporated into all the devices of Apple namely iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. The latest version of iOS has more than two hundred features which includes upgrades of applications like messages, camera, calendar and reminder and has imbibed many new tools like notification center, newsstand and iCloud for better management of data.

There is no wonder that this particular operating system has taken the tech world by awe and companies are expecting a lot more from this new version of iOS. While the other sectors of industries are looking forward to use the applications for their benefit, the IT sector is the one who are waiting desperately to grab the modified version to carry out new experiments on it. The iOS developers are all set to try their hands on this one. This iPhone OS 5 development has given the developers a new challenge and has opened gateways to prove their excellence again. The IT companies have already started to pull out all the information they can about the iOS 5 version.

Although the developers would have to wait for the launch of the OS till fall, the beta version of the OS is available for them. The challenges for the developers would be to build custom applications in this operating system which already have so many inbuilt features with extraordinary functionality. The companies are looking forward for some amazing work from the software companies as they think that the iPhone OS 5 development program is definitely going to be a difficult task for the developers and programmers.

The IT sector is eagerly waiting for the fall season as they would be presented with opportunities and challenges to come up with the best in them. The developers on the other hand are claiming that they would not turn down the hopes of the corporate companies and would live up to their expectations. The IT companies have started to extend their services and their services now include a category of iPhone OS 5 development. The other companies can hire iOS 5 apps developer from their respective IT companies to put in some more applications into their iPhone.

Look for more information regarding iPhone 5 App? Contact Application development center.

A guy by the name of Mack Lee Hill died in 1965 after knee surgery, according to Wikipedia. He played professional football for the Kansas City Chiefs, in the American Football League, from 1964 until his death in 1965 at the age of 25. He was born in Quincy, a small town in North Florida. His death was due to complications from knee surgery, due to a football injury.

My wife just had arthroscopic knee surgery a few days ago and she’s doing just fine. Mack Lee Hill graduated from the same high school where my wife and I met. He played football on the same high school team that I did. The outcomes of the knee surgeries, however, were quite different.

I have previously griped loudly about modern medicine in this forum, but not this time. Sure, as my mother used to always say when she commented on my school report card, “there is always room for improvement”. Today, however, I am very thankful for medical advances. No bloody gashing of the flesh to open up the knee. No extensive suturing to close the incision. No long and dreaded recovery, heavy medication or overwhelming pain killers, rehabilitation or intensive convalescence.

What if Mack Lee Hill had been given the same opportunity. Would he have lived through knee surgery today. I don’t know all of the details or complications that took place with his procedure and so my reflection on that situation is just to say how things have changed.

Our doctor tried hard to present a pleasant “bedside manner”. Other staff members did well in making us feel comfortable. No perfection yet but progress aplenty.

We were able to be diagnosed, have an MRI, get crutches, and have out-patient surgery, all at the same facility. I’m not griping, but we have good medical insurance and indeed that made a huge difference. Today I am thankful for having good medical coverage.

My wife is a little uncomfortable, she was expectantly groggy after the procedure until the anesthesia wore off. She gets the few stitches taken out in a short time and I’ve been here with her to make things go as smooth as possible.

During the procedure I was very nervous. We’ve all seen stories on TV or heard about cases where someone went in for a routine operation and died on the operating table. My wife was admittedly nervous, so no gripes today, just thanks. These past days have caused me to think about the relative nature of things. It reminds me of the old anecdote about whether the “glass is half full or half empty”. Today mine is bubbling over. So thank you modern medicine and all of the sincere good folks that practice it. Thank you good medical insurance and your community for what you have provided.

There are two types of working mother mentalities. One school of thought claims that working mums are far more likely to spend their time with their kids in a focused and unselfish way, dictated by the sentiment that their time with them is possibly more limited. The other camp cites the increase in the reliance of smart technology as having a detrimental effect on the time spent with the children. Never being able to demarcate the blurry line between work and home, perhaps with the added pressures of having to work harder to overcome prejudices of part time work, some working mums find themselves nose down in laptop or stabbing away at their Blackberry even before breakfast has finished.

How can busy working mums ensure that the time spent with their kids is spent in a fully focused way?

Make it a “task”. This may sound contentious: Who would consider that spending time with your own children could be considered a chore? This is not what this is about. A task is not necessarily a chore or something that is undesirable. However, tasks often are moved high in the list of priorities because of the perception that they are a requirement, something that must be done. If it helps, think of it as a goal. Too often, the reason that working mums struggle to be fully present with their kids, is because a work or home task has become urgent and has taken priority. If the time spent with the kids is considered in the same way, it then becomes the priority. Create a list of activities that you would like to do with your kids each week, capture them on a calendar and allocate time to them. Then stick to it!

Switch off the phone. Stop it bleeping and flashing. By responding immediately to every request and query you are setting untenable expectations for yourself. When you are with the kids, be with the kids. This tactic will also help your children understand the difference between working time and down time and will be far less likely to interrupt you on the phone during an important business call. Just think, they perhaps consider your answering of the phone during ‘their’ time is a rude interruption and therefore the behaviour is endorsed.

Get out of the house. Especially if your office is your home. It doesn’t need to involve costly entrance prices to theme parks; it just requires a change of scene. By making a big deal of the time, you are shifting expectations of both yourself and your children. Watch as their behaviour improves as the quality of your focus on them is heightened.

Be naturally curious. Of course children can natter on about the most ridiculously meaningless things on a very regular basis, and the temptation is always there to enforce a ‘quiet’ meal time to quell the maelstrom of noise in your head. Occasionally make it your target to find out things about your children you never knew, they will, at times, amaze you.
You’ll hear the cliché many times that the childhood stage is fleeting. As a working mother, it can feel like an eternity at times, however, there will come a day when suddenly the realisation hits that the kids have grown up. Ensure that you have the memories you’ll want to treasure.

Amanda Alexander is the founder and Director of Coaching Mums. Amanda is an ICF accredited coach, and for over six years, Coaching Mums has helped hundreds of working moms to balance their lives, get rid of guilt, get more time and have a lot more fun.