THERE'S A FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEM with redesigning a familiar object. Even if the result is genuinely better than the original, early users can look eccentric at best or complete fools at worst.
No doubt some people want to hold something over their h
eads that resembles a miniature stealth bomber. But they'll probably have grown out of it by the time they reach primary school. The rest of us are going to take some convincing that carrying this Senz Stealth Umbrella is worth the potential ridicule.
It's not that brolly design isn't due for an update. The last big change was about 1,700 years ago when the Chinese developed a collapsible sun-shade then waterproofed it. Incidentally, did you know "parasol" and "umbrella" both basically mean the same thing? One comes via Italy and the Latin for shade, "umbra", the other probably from Spanish "para sol" or "for sun". In Spain, the waterproof version is called, with greater logic, a "para agua", in other words, "for water".
Whatever you call them, I hate the things, especially big golf umbrellas which should be banned from public places. They'd be fine if rain fell vertically. Walking into the usual Scottish horizontal downpour means users can't see where they're going. If the wind's gusting from behind, the umbrella swings unpredictably from side to side. Somebody's going to get their eye poked out. And, being taller than average, I fear that somebody's going to be me.
The asymmetric, aero-dynamic shape of the Senz should stop that uncontrollable swing. It also improves visibility for the user. And it doesn't have pointy bits at the end of the ribs to threaten the eyes of other pedestrians. Let's hope the design does catch on to the point where it's possible to walk from one end of Princes Street to the other without the threat of blindness.
That doesn't mean I'll be buying one. I'm a techie, so I'll be sticking with my anorak.
The Senz Stealth Umbrella costs £29.95 for the compact version, £34.95 for full-length from www.firebox.com
The full article contains 359 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
