Core77 has an interesting few bits on their design blog about SEED 2006, a Design and Development Project of the Portuguese Cooperation, created to connect developing world craftspeople with the high tech marketplace. In one West African country, Sao Tome e Principe, woodworkers developed hand carved USB flash drives — okay, not the electronics, just the drive casings. They’d never seen such crazy machinery before, but they sure could see the economic benefits of attaching their artisanship to this “foreign” technology. They’re currrently seeking large orders so they can move into large scale production. Unfortunately, the piece doesn’t have any contact information and I couldn’t find any other info online.
Hardware Beyond the Hype