double dose of technology

as i was walking out of my daughter's school this morning, i noticed the 'tech-age mailbox'... there were so many things about this box that caught my attention: the hard-to-describe color; the strongly utilitarian shape; the choice of assembly and hardware; the semi-hanging label that revealed it's previous purpose; the strong presence of the lockpad which seemed so intimidating yet so easy to violate if someone really wanted to. but i guess what stroke me the most was the contrast of the name 'tech-age' with a product that didn't convey a high level of technology. but still, when you think about it every single component of that box is a product of technology.
later in the day i had the pleasure of meeting alan heller and spending a couple of hours listening to him talking to design students. heller is a great design facilitator, mastermind of many iconic chairs such as the bellini chair. i say mastermind because although heller does not design any chairs, he finds technologies that can lead to interesting new chairs, then thinks of a great designer that could design such piece and then brings together all the components necessary in making the chair a reality. i was really intrigued by how his approach is completely technology-based. he does not begin with a cool chair in mind... he begins with a manufacturing technology that excites him and ends with a seating device meticulously crafted by a high-profile designer.
these two encounters were refreshing doses of technology... a word than is nowadays often linked to things like interfaces, hot-spots, HD and wi-fi.