3 ms·

Looks like it has tumors, but would love to try the 5 string. At $12k I feel obligated to level up my viola playing before springing that purchase on my lovely

• bayindirh 4y ago
  When I read comments like these, I remember a quote from late friend of mine who was an industrial designer: > Ergonomics is ugly. He casually pinned these three words like he pinned something to a cork board.
  • jacobolus 4y ago
    Better might be to say: “unfamiliarity is ugly”. Making anything involves fitting constraints and prioritizing by some criteria. Ergonomics just means using human anatomy (capability, comfort, safety) as a deliberate constraint/criterion in tool design, instead of treating it as an afterthought (even when ignored, anatomy still has some kind of “veto” insofar as a tool can’t ever be entirely impossible to use). Starting from first principles with human capabilities and comfort as an explicit goal results in more effective designs which extend tool users’ capabilities further. I think it is incredibly beautiful to have tools shaped to match human bodies. After looking at a couple videos of these lovely ergonomic violas, every time I see a regular viola in the future I’m going to be seeing debilitating repetitive strain injuries.