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D W E L L I N G W I T H D E S I G N
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doesn’t make many cups. But it has got an awfully good pour. The
spout and the rest, so in my opinion it is an awfully well designed
product. And it looks nice too. So that’s one that has been in a lot of
use. (Laura 04 42-50)
Some of the products in this section crystallised what was outlined as being an
excellent design: the thing was easy to use, reliable and aesthetically pleasing,
sometimes even reparable. Yet the overall excellence of design does not hold
true with all the products. Kalle & Emma’s white television is an illustrative
example: it was a product that in 2004 was in the corner of their kitchen, and
in 2005 it was on top of a cupboard in the living room, opposite the television
that they were actually using (P 183–184). The white television had not been
working properly for a long time. It was practically broken, but, according to
Kalle, had lots of “vibes value” (fiilisarvo), which is why they kept it on display
in the apartment.
K: it’s a bit like, that the vibes value of objects, like, for example that
white TV, which has great vibes value, but it’s not in use. In fact it’s
bit broken, or, the image is bad. So it is a completely useless object in
that sense but, it’s also that it has got a powerful vibes value. (Kalle &
Emma 05 514-517)
To give more examples, Theo mentioned how his Zippo lighter was terrible to
use, Janne’s favourite lamps did not give much light, Jari was not even thinking
of repairing the living room table and Laura was happy with her too-small
tea pot. In addition to these flaws, there were other things about the products
that the interviewees found to be valuable: the Tonfisk’s nice appearance and
usability, the Zippo’s reliability in all types of weather, the usability of the table
and the “vibes value” of Janne’s lamps and Kalle & Emma’s television. The value
of these products was often a mystery to the owners of the products as well:
J: something small that one has been able to acquire. Primarily lamps,
yes. I don’t know what it is in them that so fascinates me (laughs) but
(pause) but the lamps are in any case what most enthralls me, of these
interior decoration items. ( Janne 04 152-156)
To summarise, using the products in this category gave pleasure to the persons
of the household during the course of their daily lives and the products can be
seen as having been well-integrated because they were constantly used or at