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When
improving an established design, it is always instructive to study its development
history, and to consider which features are essential to function and which
are merely legacies from the past. For example, modern cameras often have
leather textures because cameras were originally wooden boxes wrapped in
light-sealing leather. While their functional role is reduced, these holdovers
often carry important meanings forward to the next product generation. However,
sometimes past features are unnecessary and may be detrimental to product
success. Today's ski pole is a direct descendent of the wooden pole that
had a leather strap wrapped around the pole, then looped and nailed into
the top. This design resulted in the convention of ski poles having straps
oriented horizontally similar to this early project model. We discovered
that a vertical strap exit was more comfortable to hold and less problematic
for ingress and egress. |
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