Tag: GoldieBlox

Smart Design & Women in Engineering with Carla Diana (Podcast)

Carla Diana Part I
Carla Diana Part II

I’ve mentioned a few times that I don’t really get GoldieBlox CEO Debbie Sterling’s motivation in allowing herself and her brand to become the face of what may be a years-long copyright battle with the Beastie Boys, but these are strange and volatile times.  Still, the controversial story has brought the subject of women in engineering and technology design into the foreground, and it occurred to me that I know a really cool woman engineer/designer, who has smart things to say on that subject as well as the future of technology itself — especially robotics.  This is one of my favorite conversations I’ve had to date.

In Part I, we talk about design, smart objects, and the responsibility of designers to consider the social implications of their products.  In Part II, we talk a bit about GoldieBlox and about 3D printing.

Carla Diana originally studied mechanical engineering, but early in her career, she shifted her focus to industrial design, which demands a broad set of disciplines that sound more sociological than technological.  In January of 2013, Diana wrote an article for The New York Times about how we interact with robotic machines, how that interaction is anticipated by designers in the early stages of development.  Most recently, Diana published a book called LEO the Maker Prince, a children’s story meant to spark interest in the possibilities of 3D printing and that works in conjunction with projects kids can do using a consumer-grade 3D printer. Diana also teaches at the University of Pennsylvania and School of Visual Arts in New York City. She spoke to me via Skype from her home in Manhattan. (Apologies for the couple of Skype dropouts, but the context is still clear).

To learn more about Carla Diana or LEO the Maker Prince, go to: www.leothemakerprince.com

Beastie Boys Sue GoldieBlox

I have to admit to feeling a measure of sympathy for Debbie Sterling, CEO of GoldieBlox, who now finds her company at the receiving end of a suit by The Beastie Boys for acting with “oppression, fraud, & malice” in the misuse of the band’s song “Girls.”  Why the sympathy?  Because I watched Sterling’s TED talk in which she relates the story of her pursuit of an engineering degree and the founding of the GoldieBlox brand, and I think two things:  1) the world needs entrepreneurs with her sensibilities; and 2) somebody has given her some really bad  advice.

The probability that GoldieBlox actively endeavored to use legal controversy itself as a marketing tool is very high.  After all, on the same day the Beastie Boys made inquiry into the use of their song, GoldieBlox filed for declaratory and injunctive relief predicated on a claim of fair use of “Girls” as a parody.  It’s almost as though some lawyers had already prepared the filing in anticipation of a dispute.  Ya think?  Then, the EFF and Techdirt come out smug as ever, wagging fingers at The Beastie Boys and declaring the obviousness of fair use in this case despite the fact that there is rarely anything obvious about fair use, and particularly when a work is used in the form of advertising.  Meanwhile, most professional editorials and general comments from the public tended to favor the Beastie Boys, demonstrating to GoldieBlox that there really is such a thing as bad publicity, and so the company re-released the same video sans “Girls” and also issued a rather cloying apology, saying effectively, “Gosh, we’re sorry, we’re just a fledgling company, please don’t hurt us. We love you!”

Despite what was looking like a PR fiasco, the suit now facing GoldieBlox is at least partly based on the premise that the company’s use of both the song “Girls” and the Beastie Boys name contributed to a significant increase in sales.  After all, if drawing the foul was a tactical PR move, then that’s trading on the Beasties as a brand in addition to using their song without permission.  It will be interesting to see where this leads, but I am sorry to see a business that appears to be founded on some good ideas make such a dumb mistake.  I don’t think GoldieBlox has a leg to stand on with its fair use claim, and if they decide to fight that particular battle, I suspect Ms. Sterling is going to begin to wonder how she got quite so far away and so quickly from the business she meant to be running.  After all, she isn’t in the parody business, which has a lot to do with why this approach is so likely to backfire.

ADDENDUM:  WTF?  I refer you to the Trichordist reporting that Goolge Books lawyer Daralyn Durie is representing GoldieBlox in this, which is some high-octane legal muscle for a tiny little startup.  As indicated above, did Debbie Sterling really mean to get into the “copyfight” business? Because this is her life now.  Ah well.  I’m sure there’s another woman engineer out there interested in inspiring young girls to pursue math and science.

AdlandTV Schools GoldieBlox

Adland.TV pulls no punches with its headline Goldieblox:  erasing the line between “disruptive” and “douchebaggery.”  Not only does the article that follows blast the toy company for its failed attempted to use legal controversy to gin up a little pre-Christmas marketing, it also justifiably takes aim at the overvaluation of the notion of disruptiveness in these volatile days.  Yes, we all understand that throughout history, real disruption through technological, or even philosophical, transformation will invariably trample those stranded in old paradigms as it simultaneously seeds new prosperity for those born into, or able to adapt to, the new.  That said, is every entrepreneur out there legitimately disruptive, or is this just one of the buzzwords of our times the way edgy was in the early 90s?  Not everything new is disruptive, and to the the author of this post’s point GoldieBlox’s is being disruptive not in the historical sense so much as in that way that used to get your parents called in to talk to the teacher.

“It takes a special kind of hubris to so sincerely believe that rules are there to be broken and that controversy can be tamed to sell [product]. It’s advertising hubris.”
Read more at http://adland.tv/adnews/goldieblox-erasing-line-between-disruptive-and-douchebaggery/1385572187#Yw423ExgpycHH1Xe.99