Paul McGowan
It’s tough being on the cutting edge of new product design. One slip and that edge might just slice you right open.
Yet it’s pretty boring just nosing along the fringes and worse trudging through middle ground.
I think what floats the boats of most forward-thinking designers is to be somewhere just beyond the limits of comfortable as they move the state-of-the-art forward. Too comfortable and you’re not really pushing boundaries. Too many risks and the project’s in danger of never getting to see the light of day.
The balance between building yet another ho-hum product and something new, fresh, and exciting is often a tough one to achieve, but I believe the results are almost always worth it.
Take for example our M1200 monoblocks by designer Darren Myers. These cutting edge products were a real game-changer: a 1200 watt power amplifier with a vacuum tube input available at a price most people could afford. It was a gutsy move because who needs a 1200 watt monoblock amplifier?
Turns out people don’t need that much power but what they do need/want is that much headroom and the sonic liquidity that comes along for the ride.
Stepping out on the edge of what people think is normal can be risky, but it’s often worth it.
Sometimes the risky becomes the new norm.
