I wanted one of my grandchildren to see how ideas flow and influence the world.
We were at a street fair for design in Seattle and there was a table from the local design school with several students at the desk. I said to them that one of the most common objects in nearly 100,000,000 American households had never been the subject of design school imagination. What was it?
Nobody knew. I answered: it is the Wi-Fi modem. It is in nearly every American home and there is no intelligent design component to any of of the devices.
We proceeded, four of us, to come up with rough sketches. The design students turned one into a vase, another into a slug and still a third into a transparent sphere. I turned it into a clock with the lunar schedule and an inside-outside thermometer. I put the USB connectors and power line into a downward facing extension.
I then pointed out to my granddaughter, that as far as I knew this is an original idea not on the market and that these four design students will spread the need for design in this product to others in the design field. In 3 to 4 years we should begin to see some design imagination in Wi-Fi modems.
This may not be an original observation on my part but I see no discussion of it nor any rudimentary design concepts. It is also possible the modem Wi-Fi object may be replaced by something else.
In any case, if I am right we will see.