dtremit's Profile

"Also, heard of intellectual property? I'm not boohooing for a company's lost profits, necessarily, but I do respect a designer's right to his own copyrighted designs."

With the exception of strictly decorative elements, "functional designs" like furniture are eligible for patent protection, not copyright. That lasts for 14 years. All of the examples pictured are long since out of patent protection.

I'm another extremely satisfied Briggs & Riley customer -- I've had a Baseline rollaboard for the past five years (and about 300,000 miles of flying!) and it still looks practically new.

More importantly, they really do stand behind them -- they cheerfully fixed the latch on the one-touch expansion system when it wouldn't stay closed, and shipped me out new wheels when an airline knocked one off.

If you were doing truly custom cabinetry, I suppose you could design the flanking cabinets with trapezoidal sides to get back the wasted space...

One thing that's worth mentioning on the AppleTV is the Airplay functionality -- it can be a much more attractive option for someone who already has an iPad.

For example, Hulu Plus isn't available natively on the ATV, but you can stream via AirPlay from the Hulu Plus app. I think the native resolution is lower, though.

Webcams. Embarrassingly, several of them.

Hint: if you are hosting guests and have to tell them about a "policy," you're not being a good host. Doesn't matter if it involves shoes (on or off!), their expected contribution to the meal, how to sit on your furniture, or table etiquette.

They are the guests; the responsibility is yours to make them feel welcome. If you can't handle that, meet them at a restaurant.

I'm not sure why you list "Can't be done from home" for in-store prints -- nearly all of the store options will allow you to upload your order online and simply pick it up in store.

Costco is a great bet for this -- $0.13 a print for 4x6, and no minimum order.

60W? Is this intended as planned obsolescence for chairs? :D

I, too, am waiting for LED prices to come down. $40 spent today might save $160 over the next three decades, but $10 spent in 2015 will probably save $150 -- and you'll likely get a better bulb, too.

I pay a slight premium to source my electricity from wind power, and live in a small home -- I feel comfortable waiting it out.

While I'm generally willing to pay more for the "real thing," within reason, I feel like the line has gotten blurred a lot of late. Two examples:

* Some of the "knockoffs" that are made in Europe aren't "knockoffs" in the true sense -- they're made by manufacturers licensed to sell that design for the European market. Should I really believe that if I buy a chair in Paris, it's real, but if I buy the same chair in New York, it's fake?

Likewise -- some of the licensed manufacturers have quietly modified 'iconic' designs over the years. Take the Eames shell (DS- and DA-) chairs -- the 'authentic' Herman Miller has switched to polypropylene, while the Modernica 'copies' are the original Fibreglass.

Of course, at the end of the day, the best answer is generally "used." I paid less for a set of six vintage Knoll tulip chairs than DWR wants for a single new one; granted, they need some TLC, but I'll still come out way ahead.