http://dev.ideoeyesopen.com/ en feedback@ideoeyesopen.com Copyright 2008 2008-09-29T19:23:00-07:00 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IdeoEyesOpen/~3/LrpIpwVqMBE/ Routines help us experience the benefit of things that require effort. As we all know, sports can be exhausting and the effort required to workout can be immense, especially in the morning prior to trekking off to the office. At least two to three times a week, my drive to the Munich IDEO office is combined with a 60-minute stop at one of the most beautiful swimming baths I know. On the river Isar and five minutes from work, there’s the Müllersche Volksbad, a Jugendstil-style (or art nouveau) swimming bath that was built in 1901. I have yet to experience… 2008-09-29T19:23:00-07:00 http://www.ideoeyesopen.com/assignments/story/routine_commitment/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IdeoEyesOpen/~3/IZpHYVrVb0Q/ I like things clean and pure. For me, life with less visual clutter is life with less stress. As a college student, I realized that I could peel off packaging labels for a more calming visual scene. Soon, I stripped down containers and bottles to their bare material. As I peeled off the labels from my shower gel and shaving cream, I felt immediate relief. Now, when I touch each bottle during my morning routine, everything is aesthetically pure – and so much more pleasing. When I buy new bottled stuff, I look for the nicest combination of smell and… 2008-09-29T19:21:00-07:00 http://www.ideoeyesopen.com/assignments/story/product_purification/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IdeoEyesOpen/~3/Kjp39mImP5k/ The routine of morning coffee is nearly universal. For me, it was a habit that I long took for granted. But when I moved from the city to the country, my life ¬– all my former routines – became disrupted. Now, I find myself developing a whole new set of habits, around which only the 7:30 a.m. procuring of coffee remains the same. I leave my house before work, and with hundreds of other commuters, I drive down narrow lanes and circle roundabouts. I take in every bit of fresh air before I embark on my train trip into the… 2008-09-29T19:05:00-07:00 http://www.ideoeyesopen.com/assignments/story/morning_coffee/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IdeoEyesOpen/~3/eDSnVWXVF_s/ At T-minus-three days and counting until our first child is due, I’ve been spending a lot of time in the swimming pool lately. And considering how everyone—old people, toddlers, college students, and even bored-looking lifeguards—seems to love a bulging, pregnant belly, the art of making friends on the pool’s edge has been easy. Warm smiles and friendly banter greet me as I descend into the bliss of weightlessness at lunchtime every day, and in just a few short months, I’ve been able to learn a little bit about a lot of people’s families, jobs, passions, and daily routines. The diversity… 2008-06-10T01:05:00-07:00 http://www.ideoeyesopen.com/assignments/story/the_swimming_pool/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IdeoEyesOpen/~3/kL7uCrF1SKY/ Will boomers retire when they reach the age of 65? Early signs show that the vigor for productive work will still be there post-retirement age, changing the nature of what retirement really means. But while Boomers are showing a desire to continue working, it's not in the traditional 40-hours-a-week sense. I expect an explosion of older workers interested in working part-time, consulting, and volunteering, especially as companies increasingly accept and adopt flexible working arrangements. Where will these people work? People have increasingly adapted third places (public places that are not one's home or place of work) as workplaces, basing themselves… 2008-05-15T21:21:00-07:00 http://www.ideoeyesopen.com/assignments/story/workspaces/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IdeoEyesOpen/~3/1x11_QS7JCg/ Mexico has succumbed to all manner of American influence, mostly evident in the youth who flock to Starbucks. However, as more and more Mexican women join the workforce, the country’s elderly could soon find themselves in an equally American institution: the nursing home. Call it what you want—retirement community, nursing home, senior center—it’s an entirely new concept to consider in a country where, until recently, the aging were cared for by family both immediate and extended. As the concept of a two-income family quickly becomes the norm in urban areas, many seniors are left wondering what’s going to happen to… 2008-05-15T21:11:00-07:00 http://www.ideoeyesopen.com/assignments/story/elderly_in_mexico/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IdeoEyesOpen/~3/6iOF5E2PHns/ Senior Playgrounds Here and there in Munich (and in Germany all over) are outdoor spaces designed especially for senior residents to entertain themselves and socialize. In some places, such as Nuremberg, there are even arranged and state-owned playgrounds for seniors, which look a bit like the ones for kids, but instead of swings and slides there are exercise and balancing tools, plus nice benches to rest on. Along with card-playing tables and, of course, beer hut, these outdoor spaces make for good gathering places for the senior men of Munich. Perhaps the most common of these amenities are the public… 2008-05-15T20:56:00-07:00 http://www.ideoeyesopen.com/assignments/story/aging_munich/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IdeoEyesOpen/~3/T1B1iqr9Yr8/ Rather than slowing down and taking it easy, China’s aging population has a zealous passion for life and having fun, whether they are in their early 60s or late 90s. They are taking over the parks and public spaces, such as Fuxing Park in Shanghai, and adapting them to their needs. From 7am every morning, every corner of the park is a hive of activity, with people using the spaces in a variety of ways. On benches around the park people can be found catching up with friends and playing mahjong or knitting, while others are hosting what I gather… 2008-05-15T20:49:00-07:00 http://www.ideoeyesopen.com/assignments/story/aging_in_shanghai/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IdeoEyesOpen/~3/2JrYuIODDQY/ It’s around 1pm at Bob’s Diner and the big round table near the entrance is starting to fill up. They come from nearby towns, farms, and ranches to drink coffee, grab lunch, and, most importantly, talk. They are regulars at Bob’s and this is their ritual, their network. They gossip, lie, share their problems, celebrate their successes, ask for advice, and tell stories from their past. They are the self-proclaimed “Liar’s Club,” and my dad was one of them until he moved to California to live with me. I love sitting around and talking with older people and hearing their… 2008-05-15T20:44:00-07:00 http://www.ideoeyesopen.com/assignments/story/bobs_diner/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IdeoEyesOpen/~3/YIoCQObqCFc/ The peephole in the foyer door of the 1920s dancehall and theatre is an apt architectural detail. During the prohibition years, one wouldn’t be allowed to join the crowd inside before undergoing peephole scrutiny. A few years later in 1932, the second story of the brick building that we’re touring in midtown Needham, MA changed occupants. On the same oak floors where people danced to the music of George Gershwin, Bessie Smith, and Al Johnson, Vita Needle, a newly founded company, started making needles and steel tubing specialties. And so it has done for more than 75 years. Vita Needle… 2008-05-15T20:25:00-07:00 http://www.ideoeyesopen.com/assignments/story/the_power_of_experience/